Congress fails to extend FAA funding

More than 100 Federal Aviation Administration workers in New York State, including 16 in Garden City and six at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, will be furloughed effective Saturday because Congress has yet to agree on legislation to reauthorize the agency's funding.

A total of 127 workers in New York State will be laid off, including 93 in Queens, where the FAA's Eastern Region headquarters is in Jamaica, and the 22 on Long Island, FAA officials said Friday.

Air traffic controllers are considered essential employees and will continue working.

Because of Congress' inaction, "many states will have to bear a significant economic burden and many airport projects will be halted," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood and Randy Babbitt, FAA administrator, in a joint statement.

Legislation that reauthorized the FAA's authority to collect taxes expired at midnight Friday. The House and the Senate adjourned Friday without passing legislation extending the FAA's authorization, forcing the furloughs.

Nationwide, as many as 4,000 workers will be furloughed and construction projects at the nation's runways will be stopped when money runs out, LaHood said.

Without reauthorization, the airlines won't be allowed to collect taxes on ticket sales. The tax money funds FAA programs that deal with airport safety, engineering and development of NextGen, a new satellite-based air traffic control system.

FAA has been without long-term funding since 2007. Twenty short-term extensions have kept the agency operating.

Legislation backed by Republicans in the House that would have extended the FAA's reauthorization has drawn fire from Democrats in the Senate. The proposed legislation would cut federal assistance for air service in 13 rural communities.

In addition, the House and Senate are in a standoff over a provision in the long-term funding legislation that would make it more difficult for airline and railroad workers to unionize.