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Almost every member of Georgia’s Congressional delegation teamed up recently to ensure the state’s aviation industry would get the funding needed in President Joe Biden’s FY2023 budget. Led by Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA-01), and joined by 12 other U.S. Representatives from Georgia and the state’s two U.S. Senators, the efforts paid off when the House Appropriations Committee included an additional $16 million in the budget to promote the aviation manufacturing industry’s safety, innovation, and job security.

The package will now include an additional $6 million for staffing the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aircraft Certification Service and $10 million for regional aircraft certification offices (ACOs). The funding was announced late last week.

“Aviation manufacturing is a critical part of Georgia’s economy. This funding will ensure appropriate staffing levels at the FAA so that manufacturers, like Gulfstream in Savannah, do not face burdensome, expensive bureaucratic delays that would threaten jobs and innovation,” said Carter. “I am glad that this funding is included in the House package and look forward to a robust future for aviation manufacturing in the First District.”

In a letter stated April 29, members of the Georgia delegation wrote “As Members of Congress, we recognize the importance of aviation manufacturing to our districts and the country. We are proud of the great aviation companies who are leaders in technology and innovation and provide good, high-skilled jobs.

“We also recognize the important safety and certification work done by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which contributes to aviation safety and industry growth. Additionally, FAA international leadership is critical to meet the certification, validation, and safety activities of the global industry. All aviation products and safety enhancing technologies must be type certificated by FAA to be used domestically as well as validated with foreign civil aviation authorities before they can be exported.

The letter went on to state the importance of adequately funding and staffing the FAA regional aircraft certification offices (ACOs) to keep pace with the increasing level of industry activity and innovation. “These offices are directly responsible for all stages of certification projects including design approval and safety oversight as well as continued operational safety. We ask the Committee to provide $10 million over the President’s budget for the Aircraft Certification Service to ensure that staffing levels at the regional ACOs can meet increasing demand, responsibilities, and workload,” the letter said.

They concluded the letter by saying, “We believe these investments are critical to the future success of this industry and its contributions to safety, innovation, and good jobs. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to discussing these important initiatives with you.”

The letter was addressed to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Chairman David Price, and Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) was the only member of the Georgia delegation who did not sign the letter.