2013 Legislative Session Review & Events

by Yasmina Platt
Manager, AOPA Central Southwest Region

Now that all legislative sessions in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa have adjourned, we can summarize them. Your association, AOPA, has been actively engaged in working 21 bills in those four states alone. Sometimes maintaining a “status quo” is a good thing when it comes to politics and legislation. The good news is that the bad news won’t happen, like additional taxes on general aviation to fund non-aviation accounts. However, the good news is Nebraska’s LB140 was passed by the Unicameral and signed by Governor Heineman on May 29. This is a great land-use law that prohibits new construction of structures higher than 150 feet within three (3) miles of the end of every IFR runway, and up to a maximum height of 900 feet at 10 miles. To learn more, visit: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/June/3/Nebraska-airport-zoning-bill-boosts-safety-margins.

We are now working on several legislative initiatives for 2014… they include things like aircraft maintenance tax exemptions, Recreational Use Statutes (RUS) amendments, fly away exemptions, marking and lighting towers below 200 feet, land-use regulations to protect airspace, and dedicating aviation funds to airports among other items.

I hope you have been attending several of the many fly-ins across your area (and beyond!) and taking non-aviators with you to introduce them to the great joy of flying and the fantastic camaraderie we have in general aviation. Remember that whether you are looking for events to attend or planning an event, AOPA’s Calendar of Events is a great place to start: http://www.aopa.org/Events.aspx.

Although the weather did not fully cooperate with us, Iowa’s first “Pilot Palooza” in Boone, Iowa on June 1 was a great success! As one of the invited speakers, I spoke about some of the things AOPA as a whole does to protect your freedom to fly and promote GA.

On September 27, I will be attending the first “Kansas Aviation Expo” in Wichita (https://www.facebook.com/KansasAviationExpo) with the intent to bring together all aspects of aviation-related businesses in the state. You can also catch me at the AOPA Summit, October 10-12, in Fort Worth, Texas. This year’s event is guaranteed to be a great one and it is in our lovely region! FMI: http://www.aopa.org/summit/

As always, you can read about the latest in your region and state at http://www.aopa.org/Advocacy/Airports-and-State-Advocacy.aspx, or you can always ask me via e-mail at yasmina.platt@aopa.org or via Twitter @AOPACentralSW. By the way, I would appreciate it if you would send me the Twitter name or Facebook link of your airport, if any. I am going to compile a list and write a blog about it. Thank you!

This entry was posted in AOPA Great Lakes Report, Aug/Sept 2013, Columns and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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