The Funding for Aviation Screeners and Threat Elimination Restoration Act (FASTER Act) would repeal a current requirement that a portion of passenger aviation security fees be credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. Instead, the bill directs that those fees be deposited into a separate Treasury account, available to the TSA Administrator to pay the costs of security screening and related activities for which the fee is imposed. The amendment also tightens spending rules by carving out an anti-deficiency act exception for this dedicated account, allowing funds to be used specifically for aviation security costs without being constrained by standard budget laws. The overall aim is to ensure that aviation security fees directly finance security screening rather than offsets credited to the general fund.
Key Points
- 1Repeal of offsetting receipts requirement: The bill strikes the provision that a portion of aviation security fees be credited to the general fund as offsetting receipts.
- 2New dedicated funding account: Fees collected will be deposited into a separate Treasury account, expressly available to the TSA Administrator to cover the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed.
- 3Availability notwithstanding other laws: The new deposit provision explicitly overrides certain budget and procurement controls (including Anti-Deficiency Act constraints) for purposes of funding the stated security activities.
- 4Structural re-designation in the statute: The bill reorganizes how the fee is accounted for (changing the relevant subsections so that the fee is earmarked for security costs rather than general fund offsets), and eliminates the prior subsection (i).
- 5Short title: The bill is titled the Funding for Aviation Screeners and Threat Elimination Restoration Act (FASTER Act).