• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
General Aviation News

General Aviation News

Because flying is cool

  • Pictures of the Day
    • Submit Picture of the Day
  • Stories
    • News
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Products
    • NTSB Accidents
    • ASRS Reports
  • Comments
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ad
  • Events
  • Digital Archives
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Massachusetts lawmakers form GA Caucus

By Janice Wood · July 6, 2010 ·

In recent years, Massachusetts legislators have noticed that the state was slowly losing airports — and with them, a good chunk of the state’s economy. “Once you lose them, they never come back,” notes State Rep. Don Humason, chairman of the Massachusetts Legislative Aviation Caucus, in describing the airport closures.

What began five years ago with just a handful of legislators with airports in their districts has expanded to include 75 lawmakers from across the state, according to the National Business Aviation Association, which notes the caucus considers business aviation central to local jobs.

For that reason, both the caucus and the industry were recently focused on two attempts by state policymakers to repeal a sales tax exemption on aircraft. The message: Aircraft are mobile, so operators can simply move them – along with their businesses – to states more welcoming to general aviation. “We’ve been told by business owners ‘our margins are so tight, we’re in Massachusetts because of the tax exemption,'” says Humason.

The caucus also spends considerable time advocating for the small airports used by general aviation. “Aviation attracts highly skilled technicians, which means higher incomes, which means more income tax and property tax on the homes they buy,” he says.

Aviation supporters rallied May 11 in Boston to underscore how airports and aviation activity drive economic growth and jobs across the commonwealth. Advocacy Day brought aviation stakeholders, including NBAA representatives, face-to-face with the caucus as well as the speaker of the house and the chairmen of the Joint Committee on Revenue and the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The message echoed that communicated by NBAA through its No Plane, No Gain advocacy campaign, which educates policymakers and opinion leaders about the importance of business aviation to citizens, companies and communities. In recent months, as state legislatures have sought to address budget shortfalls, NBAA and others have mobilized in several states with the simple grassroots message that general aviation is about jobs, company productivity and transportation access for communities with little or no airline service.

Onerous taxation and other policy proposals can needlessly hamper the companies and towns that rely on business aviation. The situation “creates a doubtful and uncertain future that business owners don’t want hanging over them, says Humason. “That’s why we need to educate policymakers nationally and locally.”

For more information: NBAA.org

About Janice Wood

Janice Wood is editor of General Aviation News.

Reader Interactions

Share this story

  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit Share on Reddit
  • Share via Email Share via Email

Join 110,000 readers each month and get the latest news and entertainment from the world of general aviation direct to your inbox, daily. Sign up here.

Curious to know what fellow pilots think on random stories on the General Aviation News website? Click on our Recent Comments page to find out. Read our Comment Policy here.

Comments

  1. Charles R. Wirt says

    July 7, 2010 at 9:35 am

    County airport managers & commissioners need to see this for the truths within.

© 2025 Flyer Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Photographer’s Guidelines