House Passes Transportation Spending Bill, CR Expected

A government funding bill must be passed by the end of September in order to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

The House passed a spending package at the end of July that included six of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The legislation (H.R. 7617) included the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill. If enacted, this legislation would provide $11 billion for FAA Operations and $500 million to replace ATC facilities.

However, the Senate does not plan to consider any of the 12 appropriations bills this year. As a result, Congress will likely resort to a stopgap spending bill (CR) at the end of September to avoid a government shutdown. A CR until after the November elections is considered the most likely outcome. However, the path forward remains unclear at this time. While a government shutdown is unlikely to occur so close to the November elections, NATCA’s Government Affairs staff continues to advocate for the importance of a government funding bill in order to avoid a shutdown.