Senate approves bill to aid airport improvements

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma will eventually double the amount of federal funding it receives for small-airport improvements under a bill passed by the U.S. Senate. <br><br>The $40 billion bill to

Thursday, March 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma will eventually double the amount of federal funding it receives for small-airport improvements under a bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

The $40 billion bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration had been caught in a struggle between House and Senate negotiators over how much money to give aviation programs and where additional spending would come from.

The compromise version, approved 82-17 Wednesday, will dedicate all of the money in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to aviation programs -- an estimated $33 billion over three years. The trust fund gets money from airline passenger taxes and some other fees.

William D. Miller, who heads the Oklahoma Aeronautics and Space Commission, said the compromise legislation will boost "entitlement" spending to state aviation programs from $6 million this year to $8.6 million next year and up to $12 million in fiscal 2003.

"For Oklahoma, it doubles what is available to us," Miller said.

Oklahoma has 123 airports, not counting the major ones in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Lawton, and Miller said the critical need for many is a jet runway.

"We want to have 97 percent of our population in Oklahoma within a 25-minute drive of a jet-capable airport," he said, adding that such runways are a major factor for economic development in small communities. "Everybody knows that business comes a callin' in a jet."

About 90 percent of the state is already within a 25-minute drive of an airport that can handle jets, Miller said. Some of the new money will also be used for basic maintenance.

"This bill will be good for Oklahoma and for aviation generally," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. "It will provide for major needed investments that will help both larger and smaller airports. For example, it will give Tulsa and Oklahoma City the opportunity to apply for federal funding to reduce noise levels in neighborhoods next to their airports."