A House-passed air-safety bill has become the focus of a partisan fight in Congress over whether state tax officials should be allowed to use aircraft-tracking data to collect taxes on private jets. The dispute is now tied to final negotiations on a wider aviation safety package as lawmakers try to complete work on the measure more than a year after the January 2025 Potomac River collision that killed 67 people.
The tax issue centres on a provision in the House-passed ALERT Act, approved in April, which would block states from using flight data broadcast by aircraft to help assess or collect taxes on private aircraft. The Senate’s competing ROTOR Act does not include that restriction, leaving negotiators with a visible gap between the two bills.
The issue has also entered broader Washington politics, where taxing the rich remains a live debate and private jets have become a symbol of wealth inequality. According to Politico’s newsletter coverage, the Trump administration opposes allowing tax collectors to use the data, adding another layer to the legislative standoff.