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

01 heliports and seaplane bases, a number that equals approximately 3.5 percent of the total                               
02 number of airports in the United States; and                                                                            
03       WHEREAS Alaska is among the top states in the number of seaplane bases with 102,                                
04 approximately 25 percent of the United States total; and                                                                
05       WHEREAS Alaska has two of the world's largest seaplane bases in the world with                                  
06 Lake Hood in Anchorage, which accommodates more than 800 takeoffs and landings on a                                     
07 peak summer day, and Ketchikan, where approximately 16,000 takeoffs and landings by                                     
08 seaplanes and general aviation planes occur in each month in the summer; and                                            
09       WHEREAS H.R. 1356 and S. 1076, companion bills proposing the Next Generation                                    
10 Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007, that are pending before the United                              
11 States Congress would increase the tax on aviation gas from 19.4 cents a gallon to 70 cents a                           
12 gallon and the tax on aviation fuel from 21.9 cents a gallon to 70 cents a gallon and would                             
13 implement fees associated with the use of the National Airspace System; and                                             
14       WHEREAS the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of                                   
15 2007 proposes to remove Congressional oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration;                                 
16 and                                                                                                                     
17       WHEREAS because of Alaska's unique geography and dependence on general                                          
18 aviation, such an increase in taxes, implementation of user fees, and reduction of airport                              
19 funding would be detrimental to the economy of this state and would have a particularly harsh                           
20 impact on many isolated rural communities;                                                                              
21       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully opposes the                                       
22 enactment of the provisions in the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing                                  
23 Reform Act of 2007 that impose user fees, increase aviation fuel and aviation gas taxes,                                
24 reduce airport funding, and reduce Congressional oversight of the Federal Aviation                                      
25 Administration.                                                                                                         
26       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bart Gordon, Chair of the                              
27 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the Honorable Ralph                                  
28 Hall, Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and                                      
29 Technology; the Honorable Mark Udall, Chair of the Subcommittee on Science and                                          
30 Aeronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the                               
31 Honorable Ken Calvert, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Science and Aeronautics                                    

01 of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; the Honorable                                 
02 James Oberstar, Chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and                              
03 Infrastructure; the Honorable John L. Mica, Ranking Member of the U.S. House of                                         
04 Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Jerry F.                                  
05 Costello, Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation of the U.S. House of Representatives                                    
06 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Thomas E. Petri, Ranking                                  
07 Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee                                   
08 on Transportation and Infrastructure; the Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chair of the U.S.                                
09 House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means; the Honorable Jim McCrery,                                        
10 Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means; the                                    
11 Honorable Daniel Inouye, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and                                   
12 Transportation; the Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV, Chair of the Subcommittee on                                      
13 Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,                                     
14 Science, and Transportation; the Honorable Trent Lott, Ranking Member of the                                            
15 Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security of the U.S. Senate Committee on                               
16 Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Honorable John Katz, Director of State and                                   
17 Federal Relations and Special Counsel to the Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable Ted                                  
18 Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                   
19 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.