Image (C) Architect of the Capitol
The UNITED STATE House of Representatives the other day gone by a tape-recorded ballot the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) Act, H.R. 2440. The ballot was 296 in support and also 109 opposed. The ballot needed a two-thirds incredibly bulk of the House in order to pass under “suspension of the rules.”
“We’re very pleased with the outcome today in the House for the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund,” claimed William P. Doyle, Chief Executive Officer of Dredging Contractors ofAmerica “Where the government collects taxes from taxpayers, and that tax is codified into federal law to be used for a specific purpose, then the tax must be used for that specific purpose. It’s very simple. The Harbor Maintenance Tax receipts are collected from shippers and are to be used for harbor maintenance dredging.”
In 1986, Congress passed the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) to recuperate the procedure and also upkeep dredging prices for business ports from maritime carriers. The HMT is straight imposed on importers and also residential carriers making use of seaside or inland ports as a 0.125 percent advertisement valorem tax obligation on the worth of imported freight (e.g., $1.25 per $1,000 worth) and also is commonly passed along to united state taxpayers on the acquisition of imported products or solutions. These earnings are transferred right into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund within the UNITED STATE Treasury where Congress presently appropriates funds to the Corps for harbor upkeep dredging. Unfortunately, what is accumulated and also what is invested in harbor upkeep is not the very same, according to the House Committee on Transportation and also Infrastructure
In April 2019, Chair of the House T&I Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and also Environment Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), Subcommittee Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-AR), and also Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA) presented the Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act, which would certainly open billions in currently accumulated charges to keep our country’s Federal ports and also harbors.
The expense will certainly currently head to united state Senate for factor to consider.
