Senate Joint Memorial 8009 — Federal Harbor Maintenance Tax (Washington, 2024 Regular Session)

Summary

Senate Joint Memorial 8009, State of Washington, 68th Legislature, 2024 Regular Session, by Senators Hasegawa, Wagoner, Dozier and others, prefiled December 22, 2023. The memorial is addressed to the President of the United States and to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress. Its recitals state that the federal harbor maintenance tax is assessed on the value of goods shipped into United States ports and is not collected on cargo shipped via rail or roads from ports in Mexico and Canada. The memorialists pray that Congress appropriate the full amount of annual harbor maintenance tax revenues and unspent tax collections, and that the US Army Corps of Engineers allocate 12 percent of annual trust fund appropriations to eligible donor and energy transfer ports.

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Full text

     S-3706.1

                           SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8009


     State of Washington        68th Legislature        2024 Regular Session

     By Senators Hasegawa, Wagoner, Dozier, Fortunato, Frame, and Stanford

     Prefiled 12/22/23. Read first time 01/08/24. Referred to Committee
     on Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade.




 1       TO THE HONORABLE JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
 2   STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE
 3   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES,   AND  TO   THE  SENATE    AND  HOUSE  OF
 4   REPRESENTATIVES OF 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 8009
 1   appropriation and surplus collections, resulting in a surplus of
 2   billions of dollars in the harbor maintenance trust fund; 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 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, Washington
16   ports face increasing competition for maritime goods bound for the
17   United States; and
18       WHEREAS, Washington ports are ready to compete on a level playing
19   field to efficiently move goods to market; and
20       WHEREAS, Congress passed substantial harbor maintenance tax
21   reform legislation in 2020, the implementation of which requires
22   additional actions by congressional appropriators and the US Army
23   Corps of Engineers;
24       NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that:
25       (1) Congress appropriate the full amount of annual harbor
26   maintenance tax revenues and unspent tax collections from the harbor
27   maintenance trust fund consistent with the budget cap adjustments
28   enacted in the CARES Act and the Water Resources Development Act of
29   2020.
30       (2) Congress direct the US Army Corps of Engineers to allocate
31   the specified amounts for donor and energy transfer ports consistent
32   with the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 and appropriate the
33   amounts specified in section 101 of the Water Resources Development
34   Act of 2020 to carry out subsection (c) of section 2106 of the Water
35   Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014.
36       (3) The US Army Corps of Engineers allocate in its annual work
37   plan   12   percent   of  annual   harbor   maintenance   trust  fund
38   appropriations directly to eligible donor and energy transfer ports,
39   as well as additional amounts to carry out subsection (c) of section
40   2106 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014.
                                     p. 2                         SJM 8009
 1       (4) The US Army Corps of Engineers shall collect appropriate data
 2   and reinstate publication of annual reports, which were terminated in
 3   FY 2006, on the status of the harbor maintenance trust fund. This
 4   report should also include an analysis of the impact of the harbor
 5   maintenance tax in disincentivizing shippers from using US ports and
 6   diverting freight to foreign ports, thereby avoiding the tax.
 7       BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately
 8   transmitted to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the
 9   United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker
10   of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the
11   State of Washington.

                                  --- END ---




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