News & Information You’ll Want To Know In Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota & South Dakota
by Bryan Budds
Manager, AOPA Great Lakes Region
The 2015 legislative sessions are off and running and so is the AOPA Government Affairs Team! We are gearing up for an additional year of sharing the importance of general aviation with state legislators from across the region. As is the case every year, AOPA is hard at work making sure the fees and taxes you pay remain as competitive as possible and airport infrastructure dollars are protected as capital needs at general aviation airports continue to grow more expensive.
In North Dakota, AOPA is working with the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission and North Dakota Aviation Council to address the commission’s need for additional revenue to manage the state’s growing aviation program to upgrade and maintain airports as aviation activity continues to soar.
In Ohio, AOPA has been working with local allies to develop support for a measure that will eliminate the sales tax currently being charged on aviation fuels and replace it with an entirely dedicated-to-aviation excise tax.
In Michigan, AOPA will continue the push for a permanent funding solution for aviation, since the legislature failed to include a long-term fix for aviation funding in its end-of session transportation funding package last year.
Almost certainly, additional legislation will be introduced in states across the region, and AOPA will be there to protect our members’ general aviation interests.
For our Minnesota members, please watch your email inboxes and AOPA.org for information on an effort to establish a brand new airport in northern Minnesota. Locally referred to as “The Angle,” the unincorporated community of Angle Inlet could become home to the country’s newest general aviation airport – but your help may be needed!
AOPA has begun an intensive effort to work with local airport advocates (including Midwest Flyer Magazine Contributing Editor Jim Hanson) and other aviation organizations to create a groundswell of support for the proposed airport plan. Since this area is only accessible by road after crossing two international borders, this great new aviation asset would not only provide a direct link to the contiguous United States, but would serve as a local hub for emergency transportation and economic development.
AOPA is also looking forward to participating in several upcoming aviation conferences and expositions.
AOPA will be at the Great Lakes Aviation Conference (AOPA members receive a discounted admission fee!) to be held this year in Lansing, Michigan; the Wisconsin Aviation Conference to be held in LaCrosse; the South Dakota Airports Conference to be held in Sioux Falls; and many others. Please stop by, say hello, and compete against your fellow pilots in a landing competition on an AOPA Jay Simulator.
A list of the AOPA Regional Fly-Ins to be held this year are on page 35 of this issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine. We hope to see you at one closest to you!
Contact Bryan Budds @ bryan.budds@aopa.org
