And you thought we were done with Wright Amendment talk, you silly. Over the weekend, the Sioux City Journal reported that the agreement Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief hashed out last week concerning the abolishing of the Wright Amendment in 2016 ain't enough for Nebraska lawmakers--especially U.S. Representative Lee Terry and Senator Chuck Hagel. Terry told the paper he would "press House leadership" to get Nebraska exempted from the Wright Amendment or have the 1979 legislation dumped altogether. In fact, Terry has co-sponsored legislation, with Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Tom Osborne, to do that very thing: H.R. 5425, introduced in the House on May 18, would allow folks to fly directly from Love Field to Nebraska (though why you'd want to do such a thing, I have no idea--kidding). Terry's en route from Omaha to Washington, D.C., this morning and couldn't be reached; neither could Fortenberry, though he did issue a press release Friday in which he said of the mayors' accord:
"This is good, but not good enough. Repeal needs to happen right now. The Wright Amendment is archaic, decreases competition and keeps Nebraskans from getting the lowest possible airfares. I will continue to work with the Nebraska delegation to exempt our state from the Wright Amendment. Its repeal will bring better fares and air travel opportunities for Nebraskans."
Of course, the mayors' agreement announced last week means nothing without the approval of Congress, so clearly it ain't a done deal by a long shot. Looks good for Mayor Laura, though; that's what The Dallas Morning News said, anyway, when on Saturday the paper re-elected her to a second full term. --Robert Wilonsky
