{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/congress-st-clair-airport-can-close", "Congress: St. Clair Airport Can Close", "2014-12-13", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congress: St. Clair Airport Can Close \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Saturday, December 13, 2014\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Keith E. Domke\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            The city was given a huge, early Christmas present topped with a big red bow this week by the 113th session of the United States Congress when both legislative chambers passed the bill that closes the St. Clair Regional Airport.\r\nNow, it\u2019s up to President Barack Obama and whether he is going to play Santa\u2019s chief elf or Mr. Scrooge as to whether the bill becomes law.\r\nThe U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday afternoon approved S.B. 2759 after it had cleared the Senate last week. The House had the legislation on its docket as part of its general session and didn\u2019t take long to pass it by a voice vote.\r\nAll that is necessary now for the bill to become law is Obama\u2019s signature.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s not a done deal yet, but what\u2019s happened has given us hope,\u201d Mayor Ron Blum told The Missourian on Wednesday. \u201cThis has been a cooperative effort by a large number of people.\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ve actually had an act of Congress occur for a positive thing in St. Clair. It\u2019s incredibly good news. We can now start to really plan our future.\u201d\r\nState Rep. Dave Hinson of St. Clair called The Missourian from Washington, D.C., shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday with the news. Hinson was in the nation\u2019s capital on other business when he heard the bill would be brought up in the U.S. House, so he attended the session.\r\n\u201cIt passed the House today,\u201d Hinson said of the bill. \u201cIt\u2019s cleared its hurdles.\u201d\r\nHinson said there was no debate on the bill before it passed on a voice vote. The same thing happened in the Senate late last week, he said.\r\nHinson said he believed there should be no objection by Obama. He also said it is his understanding that the president has 10 business days to act on the bill after it has passed both chambers. That would give him until Dec. 23.\r\nOnline information about the bill states it was passed by both chambers in identical form, adding that it goes to Obama who can either sign it or veto it.\r\nU.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt cosponsored S.B. 2759, \u201cA bill to release the city of St. Clair from all restrictions, conditions and limitations on the use, encumbrance, conveyance and closure of the St. Clair Regional Airport.\u201d\r\nU.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer worked the bill through the House.\r\n\u201cIt may come as a surprise to many Missourians, but a municipality such as St. Clair cannot close an airport which it owns and operates without permission from the federal government,\u201d he said. \u201cA few years ago, local officials of St. Clair asked members of the Missouri delegation for help to facilitate authorization to close the airport. I am pleased that the House and Senate have now both passed legislation ... to allow the city to pursue its own efforts to improve the local economy once federal taxpayers are made whole.\u201d\r\nSt. Clair has been trying for years to close the airport located on the north side of the city and use the 80-acre parcel for much-needed retail development. City officials had been working with the FAA and MoDOT on the closure process.\r\nWithout the bill, permission would have had to be granted by the FAA because the city obtained and used federal grants to make improvements at the facility as late as 2006.\r\n\u201cSt. Clair has been financially burdened with maintaining and operating this struggling airport year after year, and closing it will allow the city to move forward with economic development plans supported by the local community,\u201d Luetkemeyer said. \u201cThis legislation ensures the city will pay back any taxpayer dollars that were put into the airport and will transfer any salvageable airport and aviation equipment back to the state.\u201d\r\nThe airport has operated in the red every year since the city started keeping track of its specific revenue and expenses several years ago. Today, only five tenants rent hangar space there.\r\nThe bill releases the city of St. Clair from all restrictions, conditions and limitations on the use of conveyance and closure of the regional airport. It would allow the city to close the airport once it pays back any previously received FAA funds and transfer all salvageable equipment to MoDOT for the improvement of Missouri aviation.\r\n\u201cThe city of St. Clair is very supportive of this effort, including the mayor, city council, school board and local Chamber of Commerce,\u201d Luetkemeyer said. \u00a0\u201cIn addition, the Missouri Department of Transportation has indicated closure of the airport will not have an adverse impact on aviation in the state.\u201d\r\nThe Missourian also has supported closure of the facility through editorials and columns.\r\n\u201cWe now can move forward,\u201d Blum said. \u201cI think what we\u2019re doing here will help St. Clair in the future. We have the opportunity to lay a path for long-term success.\r\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t give up. We\u2019ve shown our true character. We\u2019re giving ourselves the opportunity to have a bright future.\u201d\r\nThe mayor said that McCaskill has been the true workhorse in helping the city get this bill through both chambers and to the president.\r\nHistory\r\nEarlier this fall, the bill was introduced into the Senate\u2019s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and was\u00a0\u201cordered to be reported without amendment favorably.\u201d\r\nThe bill originally was filed on July 31. The committee sent it to the full Senate in September.\r\nAdditional language in the bill provides details regarding the closure process and the transfer of assets, revenues and equipment as well as the monetary value of the property and the worth of the unamortized federal grants turned over to MoDOT and the FAA.\r\nCity officials have been going back and forth with FAA and the MoDOT officials on the closure process. MoDOT has stated it does not oppose closure.\r\nIn May, after two years and several decision deadline extensions, the FAA ruled the city of St. Clair was not in violation of its federal obligations in regards to its regional airport as alleged in a complaint filed by one of the tenants. The complaint, filed by airport tenant Jim DeVries of Pacific on behalf of himself and other current and former tenants, was dismissed.\r\nDeVries and other current and former tenants have filed several complaints with the FAA and have tried other means relating to the airport in an attempt to keep it open.\r\nThe Missourian tried to reach DeVries for comment. He would not respond. He also had not posted anything on his personal blog, which he calls \u201cThe St. Clair Airport Blog,\u201d since the bill was passed.\r\nDeVries often uses his blog as ammunition to ridicule the city and make accusations.\r\nShortly after the bill was moved through to the full Senate, a post appeared on DeVries\u2019 airport blog that had a Frederick, Md., dateline on it. It stated that, \u201cThe Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and three other general aviation groups have urged key members of the U.S. Senate to forgo legislation that could close St. Clair Municipal Airport and instead follow established FAA procedures for the potential closure of airports that have accepted federal grants.\u201d\r\nThe post quoted a Sept. 16 letter from AOPA President Mark Baker. The AOPA website stated that in addition to Baker, the presidents of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, National Business Aviation Association and National Air Transportation Association signed the letter.\r\nAbout a month ago, DeVries posted on his blog that the airport bill \u201cis probably dead.\u201d\r\n\u201cIf this passes, it\u2019s a win for St. Clair and a win for aviation in general,\u201d Blum earlier told The Missourian. \u201cFunding is tight for everyone. Allowing us to close our airport will allow us to work on bringing in some much-needed retail development. It also will benefit the FAA and MoDOT because it will mean one less airport for them to worry about as far as funding.\r\n\u201cI think it\u2019s a good deal all the way around.\u201d\r\nMore than a year ago, an amendment attached to a U.S. Transportation Bill allowed for closure of the airport, but it died after no action was taken on it. Blunt and McCaskill had co-sponsored Amendment 1801 which was worded almost identically to this year\u2019s bill.\r\nBlunt Press Secretary Genny Carter told The Missourian at the time that the amendment was offered, but \u201cnever made pending and never voted on before the THUD (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development) bill had cloture filed.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe cloture vote failed and consideration of the bill itself was stopped,\u201d Carter said. \u201cSo the amendment is filed, but no action was taken on it.\u201d\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/congress-st-clair-airport-can-close"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0375410094857216, "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"}