The comprehensive Fiscal Year 2020 funding agreement revealed on Capitol Hill this week is drawing praise for boosting FAA funding, including for technician workforce development, as well as for providing for a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im).

Lawmakers on Monday revealed two sweeping bills to fund most of the federal government, including H.R.1865, which covers the Department of Transportation and several other agencies, as well as includes Ex-Im reauthorization. A second bill, H.R.1158, focuses more on security and defense funding. Both bills cleared the House on Tuesday.

The agreement would provide the FAA with a $17.6 billion budget for FY2020, slightly below the $17.7 billion level proposed earlier this year, but still $166 million above the FY2019 level and $513 million above the administration's request. Measures such as mandates for privacy protections for business aircraft operators and a continued weight limitation on Teterboro Airport in New Jersey are carried forward in the 2020 budget.

Of significance is full funding for a new aviation technician workforce development program. Congress previously called for such a program and authorized the spending of up to $5 million annually over five years.

The Aeronautical Repair Station Association called the FY2020 funding for the program “a major victory for the aviation maintenance industry.” The maintenance grant program was designed to facilitate public-private collaboration and innovation, ARSA said.

H.R.1865 would also reauthorize Ex-Im for seven years, a substantial length given Senate reluctance to a long-term period for the bank. “By including this long-term reauthorization, the House has taken an important step to ensure the Ex-Im Bank can continue to be a powerful resource helping exporters, including the small businesses that make up our supply chain, compete in an increasingly global market,” said Aerospace Industries Association president and CEO Eric Fanning. “With more than 110 foreign export credit agencies assisting our competitors around the world, it is vital for Senate leadership to support a fully operational Ex-Im Bank and pass this critical legislation.”