Get loud…to be heard

The Harbor Maintenance Tax is assessed on cargo handled, at rate of 0.125% ($1.25 for each $1,000 of cargo value). A major step forward occurred in late October, with the U.S. House of Representatives passing H.R. 2440, the “Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act”.

Congress is to appropriate $34 billion over the next decade to restore America’s federal navigation channels to their originally-constructed widths and depths.” Another influential group, the American Great Lakes Port Association (ALGPA), has said: “The net effect is to automatically ‘make room’ in the federal budget for full harbour maintenance spending,
without squeezing other programmes.”

The ALGPA notes further that the, “… action in the House is significant in that it overcame historic opposition in that chamber.” The AAPA asserts that it looks forward to working with Congressional leaders to help move the bill forward.

The next step in the obstacle-filled process of pushing towards actual legislation will be in the U.S. Senate, initially its Environment mand Public Works Committee, which will draft its version of the bill. At some point, the House and Senate versions are supposed to be melded together into a version that can be signed into law.

This is all well and good, but the usual flow charts of how things work inside the Beltway will no longer apply. The House and the Senate are becoming increasingly distracted by potential actions to impeach President Donald Trump, where there will likely be many twists and turns and shoals (which are impossible to handicap, so I won’t try).

Trade Associations (AAPA, ALGPA and others) can certainly keep the pressure on, especially in dealing with staffers who guide their bosses. But this is really a time for everyone involved (dare I say “stakeholders”?) in leadership positions to be in touch with their Congressional representatives in both legislative chambers.

The noise coming from Washington, D.C. has been deafening lately – it will get worse. So, to repeat a familiar New Yorker refrain – it’s time to get loud…really loud, to keep being heard.