Key Vote YES on Limited Government Amendments to FAA Reauthorization, H.R. 4

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote YES on Amendment 63 the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, H.R. 4, introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), as well as on Amendment 112 to the same legislation, introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). Each represent important, common sense steps to rein in the size of the federal government.

The King amendment prevents the wage requirement of the Davis-Bacon Act from applying to federal construction projects. The Davis-Bacon Act, passed in 1931 was intended to prevent any non-union groups from being able to compete for government contracts. It stipulates that workers on these projects be paid a “prevailing wage,” which is an arbitrary metric that unions have a hand in creating.

This anti-competitive provision prevents private companies from being legally able to underbid unions on prices. This artificially inflates the price of federal construction projects. Money goes into union coffers, and comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. Given federal spending problems, this amendment is essential to cutting costs in an area with far too much waste.

The McClintock amendment would strike section 451 of the bill, which authorizes the Essential Air Service (EAS). The original purpose of EAS was to be a small program dedicated to ensuring rural communities had access to some form of air service after the airline deregulation of the 1970s. However, it has since ballooned into a wasteful program that costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Most of the money EAS spends subsidizes rural airports that service fewer than 30 passengers per day. This despite the fact that, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 99.95 percent of people live within 120 miles of an airport. The EAS is no longer serving its purpose and is wasting taxpayer money to fund an initiative for which there is no longer any legitimate demand. Repealing section 451 would save the taxpayers $1 billion over the next five years.

It is for these reasons that we urge you to contact your representative, and ask him or her to vote YES on these amendments. FreedomWorks will count votes on these amendments on our 2018 Congressional Scorecard. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,
Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks