Keeping an eye on the government and the courts

Our Government Affairs committee maintains a relationship with federal, state, and local governments, so we can give you a heads-up or a hand if necessary.

General Aviation Financial Relief Packages

The House Aviation Subcommittee unanimously approved H.R.3347, the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2001, which provides $7.5 billion in financial relief to help the general aviation industry.  The bill provides $5 billion in loans and $2.5 billion in grants to general aviation businesses for direct losses incurred beginning on September 11 as a result of any Federal ground stop order and for incremental losses incurred beginning on September 11 and ending December 31, 2001 as a direct result of the attacks.  Priority will be given to a general aviation entity based on the length of time that they have been unable to operate.  The bill allows general aviation airports and businesses to qualify for war risk insurance.  It now will go to the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for consideration.  

A Senate version of the bill, which was proposed back in October, calls for $400 million in relief.  It provides financial assistance in the form of grants through the Small Business Administration for direct and incremental losses incurred by the September 11 event.  No action has been taken on this bill prior to the Senate's recess. The bill was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), so Iowa State Aviation Director Michelle McEnany has asked that states contact their local Senator in support of the bill, if they have not already signed on as a co-sponsor.  She also asked that you alert your general aviation community to gain their support for this measure because its passage depends on getting nationwide support.

If you would like to contact your Senator or Representative concerning these bills prior to January 23, please use email.  Once they return on the 23rd, you can contact them by phone or email.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Senator Feingold: http://feingold.senate.gov/services/contactrdf.html#form

Senator Kohl: senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov

The IRS has acquiesced to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Sutherland Lumber-Southwest, Inc. v. Commissioner. The IRS had attempted to limit a company's business deduction relating to aircraft used for employee vacation flights to the amount the employer had imputed in income; however, both the U.S. Tax Court and the 8th Circuit, on appeal, held in favor of the taxpayer company and against the IRS. The IRS acquiescence, published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2002-6, is not an affirmative statement of IRS position, is not intended to serve as public guidance and cannot be used as legal precedent in court proceedings. Rather, it lets IRS personnel working on the same or similar issues know that they should follow the holding in the Sutherland case in disposing of other cases with the same controlling facts. http://www.nbaa.org/taxes

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