Senate committee approves SB 87 to tie airport procurement to FAA threshold, asks CPE to study air-traffic controller credentialing

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Senate Transportation Committee on an uncontested voice and roll-call vote reported Senate Bill 87 favorably with a committee substitute attached, adopting language to streamline procurement for Kentucky’s three largest commercial airports and directing the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Transportation Cabinet to study how postsecondary institutions might expand training and final credentialing pathways for air-traffic controllers.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer, told the committee the measure is intended to increase efficiency for capital procurement at the state’s largest airports. "This bill is a little bit about efficiency as well, and we felt it's very important to address that," she said during the hearing.

The nut graf: Committee testimony said the substitute ties airport procurement thresholds to the Federal Aviation Administration’s simplified acquisition threshold — a dollar threshold that is adjusted for inflation — so the state would not need frequent statutory updates. The substitute also instructs CPE and the Transportation Cabinet to evaluate whether Kentucky can host a second site for final credentialing of air-traffic controllers and to recommend an education and training pathway in coordination with postsecondary institutions and…