U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, dissented against a long-awaited bill giving the Federal Aviation Administration long-term operating authorization because of funding concerns, a spokesman said Monday.

The explanation was offered today on Amash's Facebook page and by spokesman Will Adams the day the U.S. Senate is expected to take up the contentious bill five years in the making.

The House voted to approve the bill on Friday, with Amash joining most Democrats in voting against the bill, albeit for different reasons.

Last month, leaders at Grand Rapids' Gerald R. Ford International Airport lauded news that an agreement might be near, saying short-term extensions over the years hindered the flow of FAA dollars to airports nationwide.

Phil Johnson, Ford Airport's acting executive director, told The Press last month the FAA money is "a major source of our funding."

"We’re a major capital enterprise here," Johnson said. "We get $4 million a year, so it’s a big source of funds.”

Senate proceedings were to begin around 3 p.m. Live video of the debate and vote can be viewed on C-SPAN by clicking here.

Link: C-SPAN video of Friday, Feb. 3's House debate on the FAA reauthorization bill

The FAA has been operating on short-term extensions since 2007.

Amash voted against the most recent bill because it authorizes spending at levels that exceed the limits of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which funds FAA operations.

Those funding concerns also led Amash to vote against the half-dozen short-term extensions OK'd by Congress this year, Adams said.

"The way Congress has dealt with that in the past, of course, is to just spend the money," Adams said. "It’d be one thing if we had a general fund surplus."

Adams said the congressman was pleased, however, with the result of contentious labor negotiations, which reportedly led most House Democrats to cast dissenting votes Friday.

Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, during debate Friday, said negotiations on the bill between House and Senate top brass wrongly excluded unionized workers.

"Unfortunately, the legislation also contains unnecessary language that would inject politics into what should otherwise be a clean bill to make the skies safer," Slaughter said Friday.

Zane McMillin can be reached through email and Twitter.