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User Fee Letter To Sen. Mel Martinez
You can copy and paste this letter into a blank Word document, or the
word processor you prefer to use. NOTE the sections in italics that ask
you to make statements in your own words and offer suggestions on
what to say.
Please mail this letter. Do not email it. While it is more effort to use the
mail, it is worth it as emails are often ignored since they are easily mass
produced.
Honorable Mel Martinez
U.S. Senate
356 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Martinez:
I am writing to request that you strongly reject the terms calling for user fees
contained in the Administration’s proposed FAA reauthorization legislation
entitled, “Next Generation Transportation System Financing Reform Act of
2007.” [Say what you think the result of the proposed user fees would mean
to you — e.g., would cause you to sell your aircraft, would reduce the amount
of flying you do, would prevent you from obtaining a private pilot certificate,
etc. Try to keep the statement to one or two sentences.]
[State who you are and give some information on your aviation frame of
reference. For example, “I am a private pilot and owner of a small homebuilt
aircraft, which I fly for recreation.” Another example could be, “I am a USAF-
trained pilot with over 50 years’ experience in the flying game and, although I
very seldom write letters to elected officials, this problem has caught my
attention.”]
The present funding system for the world’s biggest, best, and safest Air
Traffic Control System is NOT broken. The OMB agrees with this
assessment as well. The Aviation Trust Fund revenues are at a record level
and are projected to increase at a rate of approximately 6% annually for the
next five years. The President’s own FY 2008 budget estimates indicate
there are adequate tax revenues to fully fund the Airport and Airway Trust
Fund (AATF), if extended. Conversely, the user fee proposal would raise
nearly $1 billion LESS between 2008 and 2012 than would be raised under
the current system.
[Pick one or two of the following points to use in your letter.
User fees are a bad way to fund a new system, as projected collection
costs would eat up much of the potential revenue.
FAA failed its accounting audit this year, indicating the agency still
cannot identify an appropriate cost structure for services.
The current system of excise taxes and the method of collection are
extremely efficient. A user fee system would be complex, bureaucratic, and
expensive.
Congress plays a critical role in providing budget and management
oversight of the FAA and must not be cut out of this oversight role.
The U.S. air transportation system is a national asset that benefits
every citizen of this country. Accordingly, every taxpayer should help pay for
it through a healthy general fund contribution to the FAA operations budget.
As a national asset, the U.S. air transportation system does not belong
to any one set of users: military, airline, or general aviation. It is a shared
asset and no one constituency should attempt to usurp control.
There are no financial constraints on the FAA’s ability to modernize
the air traffic and national airspace systems. The agency need only develop
a plan that is sound, accommodates the needs of all users, and contains
appropriate cost accounting and controls, and then present it to the aviation
community and Congress.
User fees have proven time and again to be expensive, inefficient, and
damaging to general aviation in every country in which they have been
introduced. Canada, Germany, Australia, the U.K., the Netherlands, the
Philippines, Austria, Israel, and many other nations have implemented user
fees in one form or another — all with disastrous results for their general
aviation communities.]
[Closing paragraph: Thank your Senator for giving attention to this matter.
Ask the Senator to remember and share your concerns in the debate on this
issue.]
Sincerely,
[Your name
Address
E-mail]
You can copy and paste this letter into a blank Word document, or the
word processor you prefer to use. NOTE the sections in italics that ask
you to make statements in your own words and offer suggestions on
what to say.
Please mail this letter. Do not email it. While it is more effort to use the
mail, it is worth it as emails are often ignored since they are easily mass
produced.
Honorable Mel Martinez
U.S. Senate
356 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Martinez:
I am writing to request that you strongly reject the terms calling for user fees
contained in the Administration’s proposed FAA reauthorization legislation
entitled, “Next Generation Transportation System Financing Reform Act of
2007.” [Say what you think the result of the proposed user fees would mean
to you — e.g., would cause you to sell your aircraft, would reduce the amount
of flying you do, would prevent you from obtaining a private pilot certificate,
etc. Try to keep the statement to one or two sentences.]
[State who you are and give some information on your aviation frame of
reference. For example, “I am a private pilot and owner of a small homebuilt
aircraft, which I fly for recreation.” Another example could be, “I am a USAF-
trained pilot with over 50 years’ experience in the flying game and, although I
very seldom write letters to elected officials, this problem has caught my
attention.”]
The present funding system for the world’s biggest, best, and safest Air
Traffic Control System is NOT broken. The OMB agrees with this
assessment as well. The Aviation Trust Fund revenues are at a record level
and are projected to increase at a rate of approximately 6% annually for the
next five years. The President’s own FY 2008 budget estimates indicate
there are adequate tax revenues to fully fund the Airport and Airway Trust
Fund (AATF), if extended. Conversely, the user fee proposal would raise
nearly $1 billion LESS between 2008 and 2012 than would be raised under
the current system.
[Pick one or two of the following points to use in your letter.
User fees are a bad way to fund a new system, as projected collection
costs would eat up much of the potential revenue.
FAA failed its accounting audit this year, indicating the agency still
cannot identify an appropriate cost structure for services.
The current system of excise taxes and the method of collection are
extremely efficient. A user fee system would be complex, bureaucratic, and
expensive.
Congress plays a critical role in providing budget and management
oversight of the FAA and must not be cut out of this oversight role.
The U.S. air transportation system is a national asset that benefits
every citizen of this country. Accordingly, every taxpayer should help pay for
it through a healthy general fund contribution to the FAA operations budget.
As a national asset, the U.S. air transportation system does not belong
to any one set of users: military, airline, or general aviation. It is a shared
asset and no one constituency should attempt to usurp control.
There are no financial constraints on the FAA’s ability to modernize
the air traffic and national airspace systems. The agency need only develop
a plan that is sound, accommodates the needs of all users, and contains
appropriate cost accounting and controls, and then present it to the aviation
community and Congress.
User fees have proven time and again to be expensive, inefficient, and
damaging to general aviation in every country in which they have been
introduced. Canada, Germany, Australia, the U.K., the Netherlands, the
Philippines, Austria, Israel, and many other nations have implemented user
fees in one form or another — all with disastrous results for their general
aviation communities.]
[Closing paragraph: Thank your Senator for giving attention to this matter.
Ask the Senator to remember and share your concerns in the debate on this
issue.]
Sincerely,
[Your name
Address
E-mail]
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