[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





           TREATING SMALL AIRPORTS WITH FAIRNESS ACT OF 2016

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MICHAEL T. McCAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 2016

  Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following cost estimate from 
the Congressional Budget Office regarding H.R. 4549.

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                   Washington, DC, April 13, 2016.
     Hon. Michael McCaul,
     Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4549, the 
     Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act of 2016.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
     Carroll.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Keith Hall.
       Enclosure.
     H.R. 4549--Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act of 2016
       Summary: Under current law, the Transportation Security 
     Administration (TSA) is required to screen passengers and 
     property on scheduled commercial flights and some charter 
     flights involving aircraft that meet certain capacity-related 
     specifications. Broadly speaking, the agency oversees or 
     conducts screening at most airports with commercial service; 
     for all other airports, the agency uses a risk-based 
     methodology for determining appropriate policies for 
     security-related screening of passengers and cargo.
       H.R. 4549 would require TSA to provide screening services 
     at certain airports that lost or experienced a disruption in 
     service by commercial airlines after January 1, 2013. Based 
     on information from the agency, CBO estimates that 
     implementing the bill would cost $33 million over the 2017-
     2021 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
       Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply because enacting H.R. 
     4549 would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO 
     estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net 
     direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
     consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
       H.R. 4549 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would 
     impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
       Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
     budgetary effect of H.R. 4549 is shown in the following 
     table. The costs of this legislation fall within budget 
     function 400 (transportation).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                               -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   2017       2018       2019       2020       2021    2017-2021
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Estimated Authorization Level.................          8          5          6          7          8         34
Estimated Outlays.............................          6          6          6          7          8         33
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

       Basis of estimate: for this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 
     4549 will be enacted before the start of fiscal year 2017 and 
     the estimated amounts will be appropriated each year.
       At the request of the operator of an airport that lost 
     commercial air service after January 1, 2013, H.R. 4549 would 
     require TSA to provide screening services at that airport. 
     According to the agency, 22 airports could become eligible 
     for federal screening services under the bill, several of 
     which have agreements with commercial airlines to resume 
     service in the near future. TSA has denied requests from some 
     of those airports to resume screening services in the recent 
     past and CBO expects that under current law the agency is 
     unlikely to provide screening services at such airports in 
     the near future. As a result, CBO estimates that implementing 
     H.R. 4549 would increase the cost of TSA's aviation security 
     programs.
       Based on information from TSA about average screening-
     related costs for airports with characteristics similar to 
     those that would be affected by the bill, CBO estimates that 
     increased spending for aviation-related screening would total 
     $6 million in 2017 and $33 million over the 2017-2021 period. 
     That amount includes roughly $9 million in one-time costs to 
     acquire and install screening-related equipment and $24 
     million in ongoing personnel costs and other expenses. CBO 
     expects that initially about one-third of the airports that 
     would be eligible for screening services from TSA under the 
     bill--particularly those with agreements from air carriers to 
     resume commercial service--would apply for such services, 
     with that number doubling by 2021.
       CBO also estimates that implementing H.R. 4549 would not 
     affect security-related fees collected by TSA to offset a 
     portion of the agency's screening costs. Such fees are 
     collected by air carriers from passengers when tickets for 
     commercial flights are sold--whether or not TSA performs 
     security screening--and would be unaffected by this 
     legislation.
       Pay-As-You-Go considerations: None.
       Increase in long-term direct spending and deficits: CBO 
     estimates that enacting H.R. 4549 would not increase net 
     direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
     consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
       Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 4549 
     contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
     defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
     tribal governments.
       Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Megan Carroll; Impact 
     on state, local, and tribal governments: Jon Sperl; Impact on 
     the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
       Estimate approved by: H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
     Director for Budget Analysis.

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