February:

WA State House and Senate introduce Aircraft Excise Tax

March / April:

“Calls to Action” succeed as General Aviation unifies and mobilizes to set aside the proposed WA State tax. PNBAA joins with NBAA, Members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Washington Pilots Association and others in the grassroots Washington Aviation Coalition (WAC). A recent NBAA Press Release includes quotes from PNBAA’s President, Jim Bennett, and PNBAA Director, Chuck Kegley. Bennett: “Legislators didn’t have a clear understanding of the true economic impact of aviation in the state of Washington. FBOs wouldn’t sell enough fuel, so their margins would get thinner and thinner. Airports would be impacted by those airplanes that moved to another state.  Clearly, the impact was greater than the legislators had anticipated.” Kegley: “One voice, one message was the single driving premise for our group. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Aviation contributes immensely to the local and regional tax bases already, and any additional burden of a new tax may be enough to push these operators and aircraft owners to consider cheaper options, outside the state of Washington.” Thank you to all who reached out and spoke up!

LOOKING AHEAD…Grassroots Efforts in WA State still needed:

While we have now seen how effective the aviation groups in Washington State can mobilize when threatened with adversity from Legislation or other arenas, the fact remains: we were only successful in defeating the aviation excise tax increase efforts in Olympia by the slimmest of margins.

We told our story well, joined the fight with the Washington Aviation Coalition (a newly restructured group of leaders from the Aviation Groups in Washington State, which also includes national representation), and fought on behalf of our state’s aviation industry with one very strong voice, thanks to all of you. During this fight, we have truly realized the need to CONTINUE to educate the state’s legislators about the aviation industry and drill into them the value of General Aviation as an essential component of the State and Local economies.

OUR FIGHT IS NOT OVER AND WE NEED YOUR HELP… We still have a lot of work left to do, and we will call upon you again when the time comes to raise your voices yet again. The WA State Budget Deficit is going to be at least 3 times as high as it was last Session, and the State will be looking for avenues for funding yet again. We do anticipate another aviation excise tax proposal this session. PNBAA has been actively involved in ongoing discussions with the Governor’s office, members of the WA State Senate and State House of Representatives, and other Legislative Staff members to develop a reasonable fee-based schedule. PNBAA also proposes that any fees collected for aviation should go directly to the Washington Airports / WSDOT Aviation instead of to the State’s General Fund.

Thank you, once again, for your response to our calls to action. Stay tuned for more details and/or calls to action as this legislative fight continues. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue or PNBAA’s overall role in government affairs, please contact PNBAA’s Chuck Kegley at chuck@reupsystems.com.