By Ron Thaniel
October 3, 2005

The Senate on September 28 approved a bill to assist Gulf Coast airports affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

S. 1786, authored and introduced by Mississippi Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, gives the Secretary of Transportation the authority to use millions of dollars from the airport planning and noise mitigation accounts of the Airport Trust Fund to make emergency repairs at airports in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. The trust fund is primarily funded through fuel taxes and surcharges on passenger airline tickets.

The federal share of the funding is 100 percent. State and local governments will not be required to match the funds. Grants can be used for both capital and operating.

As U.S. MAYOR goes to press, the House is indicating that the bill will get an immediate vote.