April 10, 1979
Page 7885
BUDGET ACT WAIVER
The Senate proceeded to consider resolution (S. Res. 125) waiving section 303(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with respect to the consideration of S. 413.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Senate now has before it Senate Resolution 125, a resolution to waive section 303(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, to permit consideration of S. 413, the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979. S. 413 requires a waiver of the budget act because it provides new spending authority of $175 million to become effective in fiscal year 1980, a year for which no budget resolution has yet been adopted.
The waiver resolution was reported by the Commerce Committee on April 4 and was referred to the Budget Committee last week while the committee was considering spending targets for the first budget resolution for fiscal year 1980. Therefore, the waiver resolution and the spending authorizations for S. 413 were considered at the same time by the Budget Committee.
Mr. President, the Budget Committee did accommodate the spending authorizations of S. 413 in our deliberations of April 5, when the spending targets were considered for function 400, transportation. At the same meeting, the Budget Committee voted favorably on Senate Resolution 125 to grant a waiver of section 303(a) of the Budget Act.
There are several aspects of the bill that are of budgetary significance. In addition to the $175 million in direct spending authority, the bill authorizes $15 million for the planning of noise abatement programs, bringing the increase in total authorizations to $190 million. These figures are consistent with the function 400 spending targets for the fiscal year 1980 first budget resolution approved by the Budget Committee.
I also want to mention two amendments that I understand will be offered and accepted by the floor managers, Senator CANNON and Senator PACKWOOD, that do much to improve the bill in my estimation. The first provides for an increase of $250 million in trust fund payments for FAA operations. This is a significant step in implementing the principle that user fees should finance all aspects of Federal aviation expenditures. The second amendment implements a clarification of authorizing language so that the spending authorizations for trust fund programs are better defined. Traditionally, authorizations identified as being minimums in the Airport and Airway Development Act have been integrated and scored as the exact authorization. However, recent actions by the administration have caused concern in the Budget Committee. I believe that this technical clarification of the authorizing committee's intent will assist both committees in their mutual responsibility to oversee and control Federal spending.
Mr. President, on behalf of the Budget Committee I want to commend Senator CANNON and the Commerce Committee for their actions in improving the budgetary aspects of this legislation. I recommend that the Senate approve Senate Resolution 125 to waive section 303(a) of the Budget Act to permit consideration of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act.
The resolution was agreed to as follows:
Resolved, That pursuant to section 303(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the provisions of section 303(a) of such Act are waived with respect to the consideration of S. 413, a bill to provide assistance to airport operators to prepare and carry out noise compatibility programs, to provide assistance to assure continued safety in aviation, to provide assistance to aircraft operators to aid them in complying with noise standards, and for other purposes.
Such waiver is necessary to permit consideration of new spending authority (as detailed below) to become effective in a fiscal year for which the first concurrent resolution on the budget has not been agreed to. Specifically, the new spending authority for which this waiver is needed arises from the authorization of additional funds from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, as contained in titles I and II of S. 413, for a future fiscal year not yet considered by the Budget Committee.
The total amount of the additional funding for fiscal year 1980 is $190,000,000.
Compliance under section 303(a) of the Budget Act is not possible because of the multiyear nature of airport development projects under the Airport and Airway Development Act. These projects are for airport development and construction that may take several years to complete and call for assurance that Federal funding will be committed to that project in order to permit the airport operator to sell municipal bonds to raise the local authority's share of the project costs.
This need for future commitment for planning purposes has been recognized by the Congress since the creation of the trust fund in 1970, and creates a need for the earliest possible passage of S. 413.
Additionally, the committee is of the opinion that the safety needs to be addressed by these funds cannot be delayed solely to accommodate the budget schedule. After the San Diego air crash, Congress was criticized for allowing a trust fund surplus of over $2,000,000,000 to lie idle while obvious safety needs went unmet. Timely action on this legislation is imperative to demonstrate that the Congress will respond in a timely manner to its aviation safety, as well as its budgetary, responsibilities.
The entitlements contained in S. 413 represent both renewals and extensions of existing spending programs under the Airport and Airway Development Act. Because Congress anticipated possible modification and review of the ADAP program, the legal basis for expenditures of trust fund moneys for discretionary programs expires at the end of fiscal year 1979, leaving no authority to spend discretionary funds in 1980. Yet the need for continued and increased discretionary funding for 1980 has been clearly demonstrated and is documented by a backlog of over $900,000,000 in accumulated requests for ADAP funds of which over $600,000,000 have been identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as high priority programs. Without the renewed and increased discretionary level for 1980, many airport safety programs will not be funded. The Airport and Airway Trust Fund, from which these needed projects are in major part sponsored, is currently running a surplus of well over $2,000,000,000 which will not be significantly reduced by the additional spending programs and authority contained in S. 413.
The comparable legislation pending before the House of Representatives contains substantially identical spending programs for fiscal year 1980 as are contained in the Senate bill, S. 413. The possibility therefore that a conference committee agreement will contain higher figures than those contained in S. 413 is remote.
The committee has demonstrated its concern with the need for budgetary restraint by proposing in the bill as introduced modest increases in funding, notwithstanding the fact that this program generates its own revenue. The committee went still further to reduce the total expenditure increase by amendment in committee.
Finally, as the Airport and Airway Development Act was created in 1970 and reviewed in 1976, it expires at the close of fiscal year 1980. The levels of authorization written in 1976 to run through 1980 could not have anticipated the dramatic growth in air traffic, in part due to the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which has not only increased the pressures on airport development and construction but also created a significant surplus in the trust fund.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was agreed to.
Mr. BAKER. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.