Bill Text: TX SCR37 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging Congress to increase appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to properly maintain ship channels.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-12 - Signed by the Governor [SCR37 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SCR37-Enrolled.html
| S.C.R. No. 37 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Seaport activities generate more than $4 trillion in | ||
| economic activity each year, representing more than a quarter of | ||
| United States gross domestic product and yielding more than $41 | ||
| billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue; and | ||
| WHEREAS, To support this critical component of international | ||
| trade, the United States Congress established the Harbor | ||
| Maintenance Tax (HMT) on shippers in 1986 as a means of funding the | ||
| maintenance and improvement of vital harbor infrastructure; and | ||
| WHEREAS, HMT revenues deposited into the Harbor Maintenance | ||
| Trust Fund now total about $1.6 billion annually, but in recent | ||
| years, Congress has appropriated less than half of those funds for | ||
| the intended purpose, leading to a decline in dredging and | ||
| maintenance by the United States Army Corps of Engineers; the | ||
| consequence is an accumulation of sediment that leaves navigation | ||
| channels narrower and shallower, and when silted channels constrain | ||
| vessels from carrying full loads or force them to wait for high | ||
| tide, the costs of imports and exports rise, as does the risk of | ||
| vessel grounding and associated oil spills; the Corps of Engineers | ||
| has estimated that the full depth and width of our coastal ports is | ||
| available less than 35 percent of the time, costing the economy | ||
| billions of dollars annually; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Each year, the HMT provides an amount sufficient to | ||
| meet all of the nation's authorized harbor maintenance needs, but | ||
| as a result of lagging appropriations, the Harbor Maintenance Trust | ||
| Fund had a balance of more than $9 billion at the start of 2016; in | ||
| Texas alone, less than 25 percent of the HMT revenue collected in | ||
| the state has been appropriated for harbor maintenance; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Our nation's ports are vital to our economic | ||
| prosperity and global competitiveness, and these funds, which were | ||
| collected for the express purpose of the maintenance and | ||
| improvement of the ports, should be put to work; now, therefore, be | ||
| it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to increase | ||
| appropriations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to ensure | ||
| that the nation's ship channels are appropriately maintained and | ||
| safe; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 37 was adopted by the Senate | ||
| on May 4, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 37 was adopted by the House | ||
| on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, two | ||
| present not voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| Approved: | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
