Senate Joint Memorial 8016 - Harbor Maintenance Tax Reform (Washington, 2020)

Summary

Senate Joint Memorial 8016 of the State of Washington, 66th Legislature, 2020 Regular Session, is addressed to Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, and to Congress. Senators Hasegawa, Mullet, and Zeiger are listed as sponsors, and it was referred to the Committee on Financial Institutions, Economic Development & Trade. The memorial states that the federal harbor maintenance tax is not collected on cargo shipped to the United States by rail or road from ports in Mexico and Canada. It prays that Congress pass and the President sign legislation reforming the tax based on a framework developed by the American Association of Port Authorities, ensuring mandatory full use of the revenues and equitable distribution.

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Full text

     S-5126.1

                           SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8016


     State of Washington        66th Legislature        2020 Regular Session

     By Senators Hasegawa, Mullet, and Zeiger

     Prefiled 01/07/20. Read first time 01/13/20. Referred to Committee
     on Financial Institutions, Economic Development & Trade.




 1       TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
 2   AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
 3   REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
 4   THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
 5       We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of
 6   the   State  of   Washington,   in  legislative    session  assembled,
 7   respectfully represent and petition as follows:
 8       WHEREAS, The federal harbor maintenance tax is assessed on the
 9   value of goods being shipped into United States ports; and
10       WHEREAS, The harbor maintenance tax is not collected on
11   transpacific and transatlantic cargo shipped to the United States via
12   rail or roads from ports in Mexico and Canada; and
13       WHEREAS, The ability to move transpacific and transatlantic cargo
14   through Canadian ports and avoid paying the harbor maintenance tax is
15   an incentive to divert cargo away from United States ports; and
16       WHEREAS, The federal maritime commission inquiry into the harbor
17   maintenance tax found that up to half of United States bound
18   containers coming into Canada's west coast ports could revert to
19   using United States west coast ports if United States importers were
20   relieved from paying the tax; and
21       WHEREAS, Current United States law does not require the revenues
22   raised through the harbor maintenance tax to be fully spent on harbor
23   maintenance related investments, collections have far exceeded fund
                                      p. 1                          SJM 8016
 1   appropriation and surplus collections will grow to over nine billion
 2   three hundred million dollars this year; and
 3       WHEREAS, Revenue raised through the harbor maintenance tax pays
 4   for dredging and other maintenance costs, with significant amounts
 5   being spent for dredging at east coast, gulf coast, and Columbia
 6   river ports; and
 7       WHEREAS, Certain deep water ports on the west coast that require
 8   no or little dredging, including the new Northwest Seaport Alliance
 9   consisting of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, receive just over a
10   penny on every dollar of harbor maintenance tax paid by shippers who
11   use their ports; and
12       WHEREAS, The Columbia river channel is critical to maintain
13   global trade and the port of Vancouver USA serves as the largest
14   wheat export gateway in the nation; and
15       WHEREAS, With the recent widening of the Panama Canal and
16   potential addition of a canal in Nicaragua, Washington ports face
17   increasing competition for maritime goods bound for the United
18   States; and
19       WHEREAS, Washington ports are ready to compete on a level playing
20   field to efficiently move goods to market; and
21       WHEREAS, The public port industry has coalesced in support of a
22   framework for comprehensive harbor maintenance tax reform developed
23   by the American Association of Port Authorities;
24       NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that:
25       (1) Congress pass and the President sign legislation reforming
26   the harbor maintenance tax based on the framework developed by the
27   American Association of Port Authorities; and
28       (2) Such legislation ensures:
29       (a) Mandatory full use of harbor maintenance tax revenues;
30       (b) Equitable distribution of harbor maintenance tax revenues,
31   including for harbor maintenance tax donor ports that traditionally
32   have received only minimal benefit from the harbor maintenance trust
33   fund;
34       (c) Mitigation of the cost disadvantage that some donor ports
35   face relative to non-United States ports because of the harbor
36   maintenance tax; and
37       (d) Guaranteed funding for our nation's small ports.
38       BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately
39   transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United
40   States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
                                     p. 2                         SJM 8016
1   House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State
2   of Washington.

                                --- END ---




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