EAA President Tom Poberezny, left, leads a discussion on user fees with NBAA President Ed Bolen, GAMA President Pete Bunce, and AOPA President Phil Boyer Wednesday at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007. Photo by Hilary Lawrence Watch the user fee forum

The NATCA Pavilion was packed with general aviation enthusiasts on Wednesday afternoon for the second annual forum on general aviation user fees.

EAA President Tom Poberezny led a panel of national leaders from key general aviation associations in discussing the different proposals for reauthorizing the FAA, which could lead to significant changes in fees and taxes for pilots. Poberezny, Ed Bolen (NBAA), Pete Bunce (GAMA), and Phil Boyer (AOPA) walked through the House and Senate bills currently in Congress, and encouraged members to make their voices heard during AirVenture and beyond.

"The first user fee is just the first step," Poberezny said. "This is serious business, and it’s extremely important that members get involved and stay involved."

The hundreds of members in attendance cheered the provisions of H.R. 2881, which keeps user fees out of general aviation, and loudly hissed and booed at the provisions of S. 1300, which would create user fees for some general aviation aircraft.

Panelists discussed the specifics of each proposal about fuel taxes, user fees, FAA financing, and other key provisions affecting general aviation, as well as the specifics of the airline campaign to disrupt general aviation’s support for the House bill.

"We can’t match the ATA in spending for lobbying and advertising," Boyer said, "but we won’t let them divide and conquer by trying to create discord between piston and jet aviators. We will stick together and look at the long-term ramifications of user fees on general aviation as a whole."

Members applauded and cheered as Ed Bolen described the Senate proposal to create an aviation board that would administer the new trust fund of fees, and the reason it should be opposed. "I think we would all prefer to keep democratically elected officials making the decisions about how to administer tax dollars, rather than giving all the power to a board, even if we’re on it," he said.

Pete Bunce noted that the House proposal was formed after extensive hearings and a lot of consideration by the subcommittee, and sought to balance contributions from all types of aviation based on how they use the system. "The House bill may not let anyone get away without contributing, but everyone is paying their fair share," he said. "The bill also allows aviators to continue to pay at the pump, which means they pay their fair share, but no more."

All the panelists encouraged AirVenture attendees to reach out to elected officials now. "There are opportunities in EAA Member Village, AOPA, and at the Saturday forum with the Aviation Subcommittee, but don’t let it end there," Poberezny said. "There is plenty of time to shape this debate, and we can get it done together."

Several members of the House Aviation Subcommittee will be at AirVenture on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Sporty’s Pavilion to discuss the particulars of the proposals at hand and to get the opinions and feedback of the members themselves. The groups represented on the panel also have additional information and outreach materials on their respective websites.

"The bills as they stand represent the first step in the legislative process; both houses of Congress need to have the proposals reviewed by their finance and tax committees before they can even go to the floor for debate," Poberezny said. "We all know that a lot of compromises will be made before a final bill comes out, but user fees shouldn’t even be considered for general aviation."