Story ID: 
Rep. Costello Again Pans Aviation User Fees
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Rep.
Word Count: 194
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued a statement on Friday urging President Obama not to include general aviation user fees in the upcoming budget. "We want to reiterate that a user-fee proposal would be a step backward," Costello wrote. "This is an issue that we have had bipartisan agreement on in recent years and there is no reason to reconsider it. I will not support a budget or an FAA reauthorization bill that includes user fees." Costello is also circulating a letter opposing user fees to his House colleagues for their signature, mirroring a similar initiative he launched in 2009 that had strong bipartisan support. NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen applauded Costello "as an effective champion for general aviation, and we thank him for taking this action early in the year to send a clear and strong message of opposition to user fees for the industry." NBAA and the rest of the general aviation community have long been unified in advocating for the industry to help fund the FAA and aviation system modernization through the existing fuel tax structure instead of "untried and burdensome" user fees.