{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-secures-win-south-dakota-airports", "Johnson Secures Win For South Dakota Airports", "2023-06-14", "2023", "2023-06", "Republican", "House", "SD", "Dusty Johnson", "J000301", "dustyjohnson.house.gov", "dustyjohnson", "https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) led efforts to successfully turn back a plan to charge the Pierre, Aberdeen, and Watertown communities more than $4 million over the next ten years to maintain passenger air service.\n\nThe House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed out bipartisan legislation making significant reforms to our nation\u2019s aviation system. Originally, language in that bill, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation (SGRLAA) Act, would have charged rural passenger airports extensive new fees to participate in the essential air service program.\n\nJohnson successfully amended the bill to protect the most remote passenger airports, including those in Pierre, Aberdeen, and Watertown, from those new expenses. His amendment was adopted into the final package by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and will move to the House floor.\n\n\u201cSouth Dakotans and rural Americans deserve reasonable access to airport travel,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThe original draft of the committee\u2019s bill would force towns like Pierre, Aberdeen, and Watertown to cut city programs or raise taxes or fees to support essential air services. I\u2019m glad the committee adopted my amendment to protect our rural airports while also making fiscally responsible changes to the program as a whole.\u201d\n\nImage\n\nClick here or the image above to watch Johnson\u2019s remarks\n\nThe SGRLAA Act is the five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It reauthorizes the programs in the FAA to improve efficiency and operations, strengthen American\u2019s general aviation sector and workforce, invest in United States airport infrastructure, enhance the passenger experience, and authorize the National Transportation Safety Board.\n\nBackground:\n\nEssential Air Service (EAS) airports \u2013 like those in Pierre, Aberdeen, and Watertown \u2013 receive federal funding to ensure air service to rural and small communities. Language in the original text of the SGRLAA Act would have placed a burden of five percent funding on local and state governments that have EAS airports which risks air service in those communities.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:15:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-secures-win-south-dakota-airports"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.802747905254364, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}