Posted:
April 14, 2011
As Congress prepares its fiscal year 2012 budget, a bipartisan group of 34 members of the U.S. House of Representatives has urged the U.S. House Committee on the Budget to use tax dollars collected for harbor maintenance for their intended purpose: dredging.
Specifically, the legislators, in a letter dated April 1, asked that receipts deposited into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) - funded by the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which is assessed on imported and domestic cargo - be used for their intended purpose: "maintenance dredging of our nation's ports and harbors."
The HMTF currently holds a surplus of more than $6 billion, while "the vast majority of our nation's harbors" are not being dredged to their authorized width and depth, "thus constricting our ability to export products, engage in international trade and create jobs," the representatives wrote. The trust fund is expected to take in almost $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2012, while appropriations authorized from the fund are expected to total only $789 million.
Additionally, the Obama Administration has proposed to "worsen the situation by 'significantly expanding' authorized uses of the HMTF," the legislators said. The maritime industry pays more than $20 billion in fees and tariffs (excluding income taxes), but "receives only one-tenth of that back in the form of federal navigation services," they wrote. "It is fundamentally wrong for the government to impose a tax for one purpose, only to utilize the proceeds from this tax to fund an entirely different program."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) has authored legislation (S. 412) that would require funds deposited into the HMTF to be spent on harbor maintenance each year. Companion legislation (H.R. 104) has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA).
Legislators urge budget committee to spend dredging funds on dredging
As Congress prepares its fiscal year 2012 budget, a bipartisan group of 34 members of the U.S. House of Representatives has urged the U.S. House Committee on the Budget to use tax dollars collected for harbor maintenance for their intended purpose: dredging.
Specifically, the legislators, in a letter dated April 1, asked that receipts deposited into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) - funded by the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which is assessed on imported and domestic cargo - be used for their intended purpose: "maintenance dredging of our nation's ports and harbors."
The HMTF currently holds a surplus of more than $6 billion, while "the vast majority of our nation's harbors" are not being dredged to their authorized width and depth, "thus constricting our ability to export products, engage in international trade and create jobs," the representatives wrote. The trust fund is expected to take in almost $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2012, while appropriations authorized from the fund are expected to total only $789 million.
Additionally, the Obama Administration has proposed to "worsen the situation by 'significantly expanding' authorized uses of the HMTF," the legislators said. The maritime industry pays more than $20 billion in fees and tariffs (excluding income taxes), but "receives only one-tenth of that back in the form of federal navigation services," they wrote. "It is fundamentally wrong for the government to impose a tax for one purpose, only to utilize the proceeds from this tax to fund an entirely different program."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) has authored legislation (S. 412) that would require funds deposited into the HMTF to be spent on harbor maintenance each year. Companion legislation (H.R. 104) has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA).