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Senate Transportation committee tables bill requiring certain free services for light aircraft at publicly funded airports
Summary
House Bill 731, which would have required airports receiving public funds to provide certain services to light aircraft at no charge and to define "light aircraft," was tabled after committee members raised concerns about existing airport practices, information availability and unintended limits on free parking.
The Montana Senate Transportation Committee tabled House Bill 731 after debate and a recorded vote opposing concurrence. Representative Clacken introduced HB 731 as a measure "revising laws related to airports," saying it would require airports that receive public funding to provide certain services to light aircraft at no cost and would define light aircraft.
The bill drew discussion from several senators about whether existing airport facilities and publicly available information already addressed the issues HB 731 seeks to fix. Senator Hunter distributed a handout and said the Montana Department of Transportation posts information online showing public tie-down areas and fees; he argued that in many cases pilots would not have been charged if they had used public tie-downs. "So these fees that are listed on here are if you are at an FBO or tie down area, there is no charge for that," Hunter said.
Senator Olson countered that passing a law that specifies a one-hour free period could unintentionally limit airports that currently offer unlimited free parking. "If we were actually to pass this bill it would therefore limit free parking to only 1 hour," Olson said, cautioning that statutes create uniform obligations that airports would have to follow.
Senator Dunwell said he did not see a problem with a one-hour free parking requirement for small aircraft and voted yes. The committee recorded one yes and seven no votes on the motion to concur; the committee then voted to table the bill.
Committee members also discussed differences between fixed-base operators (FBOs), which may charge fees and provide services like courtesy cars, and public tie-down areas that often have no charge. Witnesses and senators noted that some airports provide fuel or services that waive fees.
After debate the committee moved to table HB 731. The transcript records the recorded roll call on the concurrence motion as: Vice Chair Logie—no; Vice Chair Dunwell—yes; Senator Esp—no; Senator Fern—no (by proxy); Senator Hunter—no; Senator Kazmaier—no (by proxy); Senator Olson—no; Chair Temple—no, summarized as "1 for and 7 against." The committee then voted to place HB 731 on the table.
