00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18                                                                     
01 Opposing the enactment of the provisions in the Next Generation Transportation                                          
02 System Financing Reform Act of 2007 that increase aviation fuel and aviation gas taxes.                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS, because of Alaska's geography and its many isolated communities                                        
05 without road access, the state has historically relied heavily on general aviation as a major                           
06 component of its transportation system; and                                                                             
07       WHEREAS the people of Alaska continue to depend on general aviation to move and                                 
08 distribute mail, supplies, goods, and people around the state; and                                                      
09       WHEREAS, as of May 1999, Alaska had 10,605 registered pilots and 8,053                                          
10 registered aircraft, approximately one pilot and one aircraft for every 61 Alaskans; and                                
11       WHEREAS it is estimated Alaska has about six times as many pilots per capita and                                
12 16 times as many aircraft per capita as the rest of the United States; and                                              
13       WHEREAS Alaska ranks sixth in the total number of airports with 583, including                                  
14 heliports and seaplane bases, a number that equals approximately 3.5 percent of the total                               
15 number of airports in the United States; and                                                                            
16       WHEREAS Alaska is among the top states in the number of seaplane bases with 102,                                

01 approximately 25 percent of the United States total;                                                                    
02       WHEREAS Alaska has two of the world's largest seaplane bases in the world with                                  
03 Lake Hood in Anchorage, which accommodates more than 800 takeoffs and landings on a                                     
04 peak summer day, and Ketchikan, where approximately 16,000 takeoffs and landings by                                     
05 seaplanes and general aviation planes occur in each month in the summer; and                                            
06       WHEREAS H.R. 1356, the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing                                      
07 Reform Act of 2007, that is pending before Congress would increase the tax on aviation gas                              
08 from 19.4 cents a gallon to 70 cents a gallon and the tax on aviation fuel from 21.9 cents a                            
09 gallon to 70 cents a gallon; and                                                                                        
10       WHEREAS because of Alaska's unique geography and dependence on general                                          
11 aviation, such an increase in taxes would be detrimental to the economy of this state and                               
12 would have a particularly harsh impact on many isolated rural communities;                                              
13       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully opposes the                                       
14 enactment of the provisions in the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing                                  
15 Reform Act of 2007 that increase aviation fuel and aviation gas taxes.                                                  
16       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bart Gordon, Chair of the                              
17 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the Honorable Ralph                                  
18 Hall, Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and                                      
19 Technology; the Honorable Mark Udall, Chair of the Subcommittee on Science and                                          
20 Aeronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the                               
21 Honorable Ken Calvert, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Science and Aeronautics                                    
22 of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the Honorable                                 
23 James Oberstar, Chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and                              
24 Infrastructure; the Honorable John L. Mica, Ranking Member of the U.S. House of                                         
25 Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Jerry F.                                  
26 Costello, Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation of the U.S. House of Representatives                                    
27 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Thomas E. Petri, Ranking                                  
28 Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee                                   
29 on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chair of the U.S.                                
30 House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means; the Honorable Jim McCrery,                                        
31 Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means; the                                    

01 Honorable Daniel Inouye, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and                                   
02 Transportation; the Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV, Chair of the Subcommittee on                                     
03 Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,                                     
04 Science, and Transportation; the Honorable Trent Lott, Ranking Member of the                                            
05 Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security of the U.S. Senate Committee on                               
06 Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Honorable John Katz, Director of State and                                   
07 Federal Relations and Special Counsel to the Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable Ted                                  
08 Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                   
09 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.