User fees in Obama administration?s budget proposal President Barack Obama?s proposed budget is calling for aviation user charges starting in 2011. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the proposal Feb. 26, and although there is not much detail, the document makes it clear that the administration wants to replace some of the aviation excise taxes with ?direct user charges.? ?It is often said the devil is in the details, but even with only a few details, we are concerned,? said AOPA President Craig Fuller. Read more >> Security proposal infringes on citizens? rights
The Transportation Security Administration?s proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) is a threat to American citizens? rights of privacy and freedom of travel. It is an unreasonably expansive and intrusive response to an undocumented and unproven security threat. The LASP could force one quarter of the reliever airports in the United States to ban aircraft weighing more than 12,500 pounds. And the TSA has underestimated the cost of the program to citizens and businesses by a factor of six; LASP could cost the general aviation community some $1.2 billion a year. Those are just some of the onerous requirements AOPA pointed out in its detailed analysis of the LASP notice of proposed rulemaking.
