The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved a 60-day extension for Federal Aviation Administration funding

as Congress works toward a longer-term reauthorization. The committee in February approved a four-year FAA reauthorization. Set to run through May 31, the extension will allow other House committees to consider "their portions" of the reauthorization bill, according to Transportation Committee chairman John Mica (R-Fla.). "Since the earliest the House can take up that bill is the final week of this month, this extension is necessary to ensure aviation programs do not lapse," Mica said. Noting that the U.S. Senate already approved a version of an FAA reauthorization bill, aviation subcommittee chairman Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) added, "this should be our final extension." FAA funding now has been extended 18 times since the last reauthorization technically expired in 2007.