Republicans heading into the midterm elections have plenty worth defending. They should not defend a private jet tax carve-out tucked into the aviation safety legislation written after 67 people died in the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk. A safety bill should be about safety, not a back-door tax benefit for private aircraft owners.

The provision is the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act (also known as PAPA), carried into the House ALERT Act in Section 105. It would bar states, localities, and airports from using ADS-B, the location signal aircraft already broadcast publicly, to assess or collect taxes and fees on private planes.