The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved funding for a critical provision that would reform the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and significantly benefit the ports of Tacoma and Seattle.

As so-called “donor ports,” the ports of Seattle and Tacoma currently receive pennies for each dollar credited to the fund through Harbor Maintenance Tax collections. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Patty Murray succeeded in fully funding Section 2106 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA).