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Committee backs two‑year fix to aviation fuel tax estimates to unlock federal airport funds
Summary
House Bill 21 would temporarily change how Louisiana estimates aviation fuel sales so the state can draw down more FAA funding; DOTD called it a short‑term, two‑year fix that could turn an estimated $45–50 million in state collections into roughly $400 million in federal grants. The committee reported HB 21 favorably without objection.
Senator Reese presented House Bill 21 to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs with technical witnesses from the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). Julia Fisher Cormier, Commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce, said the bill is a short‑term fix to ensure the state accurately estimates aviation fuel sales so Louisiana can maximize federal FAA funding.
"This is something that's going to bring in more money," Commissioner Cormier said, describing HB 21 as a temporary approach to align state estimates with federal data. DOTD staff explained the aviation program funds airport infrastructure and relies on aviation fuel tax as a funding source; because the state has been undercounting aviation fuel sales, the department sometimes supplemented the program from the general fund to meet program requirements.
Witnesses told the committee that self‑reporting from fuel providers has driven inconsistent estimates. Luke Morris of the Department of Revenue described historical ad hoc calculations and said the bill will provide a clearer calculation method and require a Schedule AF to collect actual aviation‑fuel data going forward; the sunset in two years will allow DOTD and LDR to transition to the improved data collection method and then rely on actual filings.
Commissioner Cormier and staff said the two‑year measure could increase reported state aviation fuel tax from roughly $15 million (last‑year collection) to about $45–50 million, which DOTD estimated might leverage roughly $400 million in federal funds for airport projects.
Scott Gammel, representing the Louisiana Airport Managers and Associates, urged passage as a safety and infrastructure priority, stressing that airports cannot use detours the way road projects can and that the state must be able to draw down federal dollars over the next two years.
Senate Reese moved to report HB 21 favorably; the committee had no objections and reported the bill out as favorable. The committee did not take up penalties in this bill (no penalties were included); witnesses noted long‑term enforcement and penalty changes are proposed in HB 7.
Next steps: HB 21 was reported favorably by the committee and will proceed according to the Senate’s rules for reported bills.
