SAFEGUARDS Act Doubles Airport Security Funding to $750M Annually, Ending Fee Diversions by 2027

The newly introduced SAFEGUARDS Act of 2025 (officially the Spending Aviation Fees for Equipment, Guaranteeing Upgraded and Advanced Risk Detection and Safety Act) is straightforward: it locks down the money collected from the passenger 911 Security Fee and forces it to be spent only on aviation security. Currently, some of this fee revenue gets siphoned off for other government spending, but this bill aims to stop that practice entirely by 2027 (Sec. 2). More immediately, starting in Fiscal Year 2026, the bill dramatically increases the amount of money guaranteed for security upgrades every year, boosting the mandatory annual commitment from $250 million to a total of $750 million (Sec. 3, Sec. 4).

The Security Fee Lockbox: No More Borrowing

Congress is essentially creating an ironclad lockbox around the 911 Security Fee. The bill states clearly that the fee, which every traveler pays when they buy a ticket, must be used only for things that directly boost aviation security—think better screening equipment, more training, and higher staffing levels. For everyday travelers, this means the money you pay specifically for security won’t be used to patch holes in the federal budget somewhere else. The big deadline here is 2027, by which point any existing revenue diversion must cease (Sec. 2).

Doubling Down on Capital Upgrades

Right now, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has an Aviation Security Capital Fund for big-ticket items like new X-ray machines and body scanners. This fund is currently guaranteed at least $250 million annually from the fee revenue. The SAFEGUARDS Act immediately doubles that minimum commitment to $500 million starting in Fiscal Year 2026 (Sec. 3). This means airports across the country will have access to much larger grants to replace aging equipment, which should translate into smoother, faster, and more effective security lines for everyone.

A New Fund for Better Checkpoint Tech

Beyond just doubling the existing fund, the bill creates a brand-new pot of money: the Aviation Security Checkpoint Technology Fund (ASCT Fund). Once the first $500 million for the Capital Fund is secured, the next $250 million collected from the security fees each year must be deposited into this new ASCT Fund (Sec. 4). This money is strictly earmarked for buying, installing, and maintaining new technology at the actual security checkpoints and exit lanes. For the traveler, this is the funding that pays for those fancy new computed tomography (CT) scanners that let you keep your laptop in your bag, or the automated screening lanes that speed up the process. Interestingly, this new fund can even reimburse airports for technology projects they started as far back as January 1, 2023, incentivizing quick upgrades.

The Cost of Commitment

While the commitment to better security is a clear win for travelers who value safety and efficiency, there’s a practical side effect: the TSA Administrator is required to set the security fee rates high enough to guarantee these mandatory annual deposits—$500 million for the Capital Fund plus $250 million for the new Tech Fund, totaling $750 million (Sec. 3, Sec. 4). This means that the fee you pay on your ticket will need to be maintained at a level that consistently generates this much revenue, potentially keeping the cost floor for air travel slightly higher than it might be otherwise. For the frequent business traveler or the family flying cross-country, this ensures that the fee you pay is actually going directly into the security system, but it also locks in a sustained financial commitment from passengers to fund these upgrades.