Port Authorities Call for WRDA to Work Toward Full Harbor Maintenance Allocations
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee should blaze a clearer path toward full use of Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) revenues in its Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016 legislation, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) said in a letter to the committee. The full committee will mark up the bill on May 25. The House version of the legislation does not include the same HMT language as the Senate version, which would allow Congress to mark up the total target budget resources for then-fiscal years as equal to the lesser of: (1) 103 percent of the total budget outlay for the previous fiscal year, or (2) 100 percent of all HMT amounts collected in the previous fiscal year. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act directs 71 percent of fiscal 2016’s estimated $1.7 billion in HMT revenues to be allocated to harbor maintenance (see 1603140030). This percentage threshold of HMT prior-year revenues to be provided for then-year appropriations progressively rises to 100 percent by 2025.
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A provision in the House bill would amend WRDA to authorize automatic yearly allocations of full HMT revenues to the Army Corps of Engineers, isolating the account from discretionary funding decisions of future Congresses. But the legislation should be altered to provide more donor equity and “U.S. tax policy fairness,” AAPA CEO Kurt Nagle said in the letter. “We believe that action only on full use of HMT would effectively foreclose progress on additional HMT reform issues. AAPA believes that the final bill should address all three principles on a permanent basis. As WRDA 2016 is expected to be approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee very soon, we encourage you to include a place holder to address the guiding principles agreed to by the port industry.” Neither Majority nor Minority House T&I spokespersons did not comment on whether any HMT amendments could be offered either during committee markup or on the House floor.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of AAPA’s letter.