Barack Obama's $3.8tn budget proposal for the 2011 fiscal year (which begins on October 1) has included significant funding for the NextGen air traffic control programme. Funding has increased by 30 per cent from the previous fiscal year, to $1.1bn. Funding has also been set aside for biofuel research, much to the approval of the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). "We commend the Department of Agriculture's continued commitment to alternative fuels by reprogramming monies to fund a variety of other programmes, including support for biorefineries to utilise advanced biomass crops and research designed to create cellulosic and advanced biofuels," said ATA president and CEO James May.