Bill Text: NJ AR28 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges President and Congress to recognize importance of Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center and provide adequate funding to enable hiring of additional workers at center.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [AR28 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-AR28-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BOB ANDRZEJCZAK
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
Assemblyman R. BRUCE LAND
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Urges President and Congress to recognize importance of Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center and provide adequate funding to enable hiring of additional workers at center.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution urging the President and Congress to recognize the importance of and provide adequate funding to the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center.
Whereas, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center (center), located next to the Atlantic City International Airport, is an aviation research, development, test, and evaluation facility; and
Whereas, The center serves as the FAA's national scientific test base for research and development, test and evaluation, and verification and validation in air traffic control and other areas of aviation, such as communications, navigation, aircraft safety, and security; and
Whereas, The center's laboratories and engineering facilities figure prominently in the FAA's challenge to modernize the United States air transportation system, as the center is the primary facility supporting the nation's Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as "NextGen"; and
Whereas, While the center serves to advance aviation, it also provides support for homeland security aviation matters, as it is home to the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Lab, the United States Coast Guard Group Air Station Atlantic City, and the New Jersey Air National Guard 177th Fighter Wing; and
Whereas, Of the federal employee and contractor job positions at the center, between 1,000 and 2,000 of them are in the field of air traffic control operations and research; and
Whereas, The center has long been a jobs creator in the Atlantic City area, bringing highly educated, professional workers to an area whose economy is suffering due to the struggles of the casino industry and property foreclosures; and
Whereas, The federal budget proposed by the President of the United States proposes "to shift the air traffic control function of the FAA to an independent, non-governmental organization"; and
Whereas, The center has previously been subject to fiscal pressures and lapses in funding from the federal budget, with employees furloughed in years past, and, more recently, contract awarding, job hiring, and research activity slowed or frozen; and
Whereas, Rather than seeking to privatize the functions and responsibilities of air traffic control, which could lead to further economic decline in the area, the federal government should recognize the importance of the center and provide adequate funding to enable the hiring of additional workers at the center; and
Whereas, It is all together fitting and proper for this House, and in the public interest, to urge the President and Congress of the United States to recognize the importance of the center and provide adequate funding to enable the hiring of additional workers at the center; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the President and Congress of the United States to recognize the importance of the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center and provide adequate funding to enable the hiring of additional workers at the center.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President of the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each member of the United States Congress elected from this State, and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
STATEMENT
This Assembly resolution urges the President and Congress of the United States to recognize the importance of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center (center) and provide adequate funding to enable the hiring of additional workers at the center. The federal budget proposed by the President of the United States proposes "to shift the air traffic control function of the FAA to an independent, non-governmental organization." The center has previously been subject to fiscal pressures and lapses in funding from the federal budget, with employees furloughed in years past, and, more recently, contract awarding, job hiring, and research activity slowed or frozen. Rather than seeking to privatize the functions and responsibilities of air traffic control, which could lead to further economic decline in the area, the federal government should recognize the importance of the center and provide adequate funding to enable the hiring of additional workers at the center.
