Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.
Prior to taking on her current role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
Congress is finding new ways to put its stamp on the budget process now that earmarks are a relic of the past. The latest invention is a series of “innovation” accounts included in the fiscal 2011 appropriations bill. Each of the military services and special operations forces will receive $105 million for research and development. Production innovation accounts are just $15 million per service, and there’s one defense-wide industrial base innovation fund for $24 million.
As Congres goes into a two-week recess this week after finally reaching a budget agreement, the industry awaits their return to work on the FAA reauthorization bill. The House must still choose its conferees sometime between their return on May 2 and the bill's expiration date of May 31.
Airports could receive up to $3.5 billion this year for improvements in the spending bill passed last week by the House and Senate to fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2011. That amount sits smack in the middle of what the House and Senate authorizing committees have approved for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), leaving airport executives to push for at least that amount in the FAA reauthorization bill.
