Congressman revives bills targeting the Jones Act

When the 116th Congress ended at the New Year, four bills targeting the Jones Act lapsed with it, having languished in the House hopper with no movement and no support for two years. The sponsor of each bill was Democratic Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii.

Now Rep. Case is back at it. On January 13, he reintroduced his measures against the Jones Act, consolidating the four original bills into three.

One measure would exclude "non-contiguous locations" - Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Guam - from the domestic shipping law.

The second bill would cap the rates Jones Act carriers can charge in all domestic trades.

The third piece of legislation would limit the number of Jones Act carriers that can serve specific domestic markets to two - the U.S. mainland to and from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, for example.

On the Senate side in the 116th Congress, Utah Republican Mike Lee had two Jones Act "reform" bills lapse with no movement and no support. One bill would have repealed the Jones Act, the other would have made Jones Act waivers easier to obtain. There is no current indication that Sen. Lee will reintroduce these bills in the 117th Congress.

The Jones Act, which marked its centennial on June 5, 2020, has endured on conspicuous merit, serving legitimate and lasting economic, national and homeland security interests at no cost to American taxpayers; the public record confirms that Jones Act critics rely routinely on points that are refuted easily; the solid, bipartisan support base the Jones Act has in the House of Representatives and in the Senate survived the 2020 Congressional elections.

AMO will remain vigilant on Jones Act issues during the incoming Biden administration. There are encouraging developments so far, but we will remain on watch, and we will continue to advise all deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members of developments as they occur.

Paul Doell
January 19, 2021