Rep. Bud Shuster (PA), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led the House to overwhelming approval of his bipartisan, multi-year renewal bill (H.R. 1000), known as "AIR-21", an effort strongly supported by the Conference of Mayors and others. This legislation parallels his efforts on the TEA-21 law for highways and transit where taxes and fees collected from users of the system are reinvested in the system, which in this case would increase investment in airports and the national aviation system.

To date, Senate leaders, which include Majority Leader Trent Lott (MS) and Sen. Pete V. Domenici (NM), have been unwilling to commit to the level of spending House proponents of AIR-21 are seeking. The Senate legislation authorizes future aviation spending at levels well below that of AIR-21. It was principally on the issue of future funding commitments where negotiations broke down before Congress adjourned.

In a statement on the legislative impasse, Shuster said, "I question our priorities when in these times of trillion dollar surpluses, with air travelers investing billions more into the Aviation Trust Fund, we cannot find the commitment to aviation system safe and competitive." He also said, "The Senate proposal also says the flying public cannot use the money they have invested in the Aviation Trust Fund to make their skies safer."

As a result, Fiscal Year 2000 funds for airport investment through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) at the Federal Aviation Administration are not available until Congress takes action on the aviation legislation sometime early next year. This hiatus affects the new AIP funding of $1.95 billion that was provide in the Fiscal Year 2000 Department of Transportation Appropriations Act.

In commenting on the impasse on new AIP funding, Shuster said, "I continue to oppose short-term extensions of selected aviation programs. This band-aid approach can only delay the significant investments that the flying public has paid for and deserves."