Congresswoman Janice Hahn has expressed her appreciation to the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee for including her request for over $1 billion in port funding in the draft FY 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill – a level above and beyond the appropriations target outlined in WRRDA.
Last month, Hahn led 121 of her colleagues in a letter to the committee requesting $1.26 billion in Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) revenue to go back to the nation’s ports for critical infrastructure projects.
“This is yet another victory for ports and the future of the U.S. economy,” said Congresswoman Janice Hahn.
“This funding will go toward important dredging and maintenance projects and will be critical in ensuring our ports are prepared to handle the mega-ships of the future.”
In 2014, Congresswoman Hahn led a successful effort to set annual targets for harbor maintenance appropriations increases leading toward full usage of the HMT revenue by 2025.
These targets were included in the Water Resource and Reform Development Act (WRRDA), which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
This year’s funding level included in the draft FY 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill is above the WRRDA harbor maintenance target and puts Congress ahead of schedule to reach full utilization.