Airport Alert: Senate Commerce Committee Advances SAFEGUARDS Act To Increase Funding for Aviation Security Technologies

April 14, 2026

This morning, the Senate Commerce Committee favorably advanced S. 2378, the Spending Aviation Fees for Equipment, Guaranteeing Upgraded and Advanced Risk Detection and Safety (SAFEGUARDS) Act. This legislation was originally introduced by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation, and Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Boozman (R-AK), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) in 2025. Additional Committee members co-sponsored the bill, including Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).

This bipartisan legislation would require a greater portion of the revenue collected through the 9/11 Passenger Security Fee be invested in upgrading technologies at our nation’s airports to bolster aviation security and to improve the travel experience. Since 2014, more than $16.72 billion of the collected fees have been diverted to non-security uses.

Specifically, the SAFEGUARDS Act would:

• Extend the aviation security capital fund beyond 2028, when it expires, and increase the amount of fee revenue devoted to the fund and checked baggage explosive detection systems from $250 million to $400 million annually, and
  
  
• Establish a new aviation security checkpoint fund that would allocate $250 million annually for checkpoint technology improvements, including technologies at exit lanes.

AAAE has been a supporter of this legislation since it was first introduced. Without this crucial investment, TSA will be unable to complete the deployment of state-of-the-art security technologies for another 15-20 years.