A bill to exempt airports in economically depressed communities from matching grant obligations under the Airport Improvement Program.
Key claim: Airports in communities that meet unemployment, income, or other economic-distress tests would get the federal government to cover 100 percent of Airport Improvement Program project costs, with no local matching share.
Abstract
(S1960 · 108th Congress) Entitles economically depressed communities to 100 percent of costs for an airport project if the community has: (1) an unemployment rate 1 percent higher than the national average for the preceding 24 months; (2) a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average; or (3) a special need such as substantial population loss, underemployment, military base closures, major disasters or emergencies, extraordinary depletion of natural resources, closure or restructuring of industrial firms essential to the area economies, and destructive impacts of foreign trade. Latest action (2003-11-25): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
The Airport Improvement Program normally requires local sponsors to cover a share (typically 5–25%) of grant-funded airport projects, which can put upgrades out of reach for airports serving economically distressed areas. This 2003 bill is one of several recurring proposals to relax that match for distressed communities; it did not advance beyond committee, but it marks the policy debate over federal-local cost sharing in aviation infrastructure.