Federal legislation to improve air passenger service between Tutuila and the Manu’a group got a boost today, with a US Senate committee hearing on a larger territorial bill.
If approved, the bill would allow foreign airlines to also fly between American Samoa and Hawaii and to the mainland.
At present Samoa carrier Polynesian Airlines has been serving the Tututila to Manu’a route under 30 day cabotage waives from the US Department of Transportation.
Passage of the cabotage legislation would mean an end to the 30 day authorization, and the airline would have long term license to fly to Manu’a.
We go to our Washington DC correspondent Matt Kaye for full details on the cabotage bill.
The American Samoa ‘cabotage’ exception would allow foreign carriers to make multiple stops within American Samoa—or to another territory or Compact nation—without first returning to foreign soil or getting a US waiver each month.
The provision is part of a larger omnibus territories bill and is identical to language in a bill Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen worked on with Interior Assistant Secretary Esther Kia’aina and introduced in the House in February.
Kia’aina testified before the Senate Energy Committee on the omnibus bill…
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But other than Kia’aina’s endorsement of the American Samoa cabotage provision, there were few mentions of the issue, as most attention turned to the inability of the Obama administration to come up with offsets of spending to fund renewal of the Palau Compact, called for in a second bill before the committee.
Still, the administration’s endorsement of a cabotage waiver for American Samoa, and the lack of any controversy over a waiver, is good news for the territory, seeking to broaden its economic horizons with more emphasis on tourism.
Separately, Congress is about to move Puerto Rico debt relief legislation.
Kia’aina made it clear,the administration does not want the other US territories left out—
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Puerto Rico is seeking greater protection through bankruptcy laws—protection some of the territories are also asking for, if Puerto Rico wins new bankruptcy coverage.
Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo earlier joined CNMI Congressman Greg ‘Kilili’ Sablan in a bill to fully fund the earned income tax credit in the territories—a measure that could end up in the Puerto Rico bill, and ensure low-income taxpayers in all the islands can receive a refundable credit.
