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March 5, 1999, Friday, SOONER EDITION

SECTION: NATIONAL, Pg. A-7

LENGTH: 525 words

HEADLINE: BIG MONEY FOR AIRPORT IN NEW BILL BY SHUSTER

BYLINE: JACK TORRY, POST-GAZETTE WASHINGTON BUREAU

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:

Pennsylvania Rep. Bud Shuster, the House Transportation Committee chairman, yesterday unveiled a bill that would dramatically increase federal aviation spending and triple the amount of money Pittsburgh International Airport receives annually to build or repair runways.

The five-year bill, which would authorize $ 89 billion in federal spending for the Federal Aviation Administration, is expected to win committee approval next week. But it is also likely to provoke intense opposition from Senate Republicans, and there is no indication yet that House GOP leaders will support the bid by Shuster, R-Everett, to essentially double the FAA's annual budget by 2004. The bill, which has broad bipartisan support in Shuster's committee, calls for increasing annual spending for airport improvements - essentially, runways and taxiways - from $ 2.4 billion annually to $ 5 billion in fiscal year 2000. Specifically for Pittsburgh International, it would boost federal spending from $ 6.7 million every year to $ 20 million.

The bill would also remove the Aviation Trust Fund from the general budget, which would prevent the federal government from using part of the trust fund to make its budget surplus appear larger. Last year, Shuster successfully campaigned to have the federal highway trust funds removed from the budget, clearing the way for increased government spending to construct new roads and bridges.

The bill also lifts federal rules that limit the number of daily flights at three major airports, O' Hare in Chicago and LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy in New York, while permitting Reagan National Airport in Washington to add three round-trip flights per day.

At a Capitol Hill news conference, Shuster said his FAA bill was "going to make air traffic safer, reduce delays and increase competition." Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., the committee's ranking Democrat, who joined Shuster, pledged that "we're going to get this bill passed."

But even though Shuster has 122 co-sponsors for his bill, it is unclear whether his party's House leaders will endorse massive new aviation spending at a time when Congress and the White House appear more interested in salvaging Social Security and approving a budget for fiscal year 2000.

Shuster's bill is also at sharp odds with the FAA bill in the Senate, introduced by Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz. The McCain bill, which covers only the next two years, would increase federal spending for runways and taxiways to $ 2.475 billion in 2000 - less than half what Shuster wants. In addition, McCain's bill would keep the trust fund as part of the general budget.

Congressional negotiators were trying yesterday to forge a budget agreement that would let the Senate and House swiftly approve a budget resolution. The resolution would establish how much the government would spend next year and would include an unspecified tax cut.

That may cause another fight on Capitol Hill between Shuster and Budget Committee members. To pay for his aviation bill, lawmakers would have to either scale back any tax cut or slash federal spending for other programs.

LOAD-DATE: March 5, 1999