Ways And Means Committee News

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted unanimously to confirm veteran government trade lawyer Katherine Tai as the first woman of color to serve as U.S. Trade Representative, putting her to work enforcing trade deals, confronting China’s trade practices and patching up ties with U.S. allies.The rare 98-0 vote for Tai, a Yale and Harvard-educated daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, reflects support from pro-labor Democrats, traditional free-trade Republicans and China hawks from both parties.Tai…

The Trump administration will push for a broad reset of “outdated tariff determinations” at the World Trade Organization to fix what it sees as years of unfair treatment of the United States, a top trade official told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the Geneva-based body was “a mess” and changes in the tariffs set by the Geneva-based WTO were urgently needed to better reflect current economic realities.“Many countries with large and developed economies maintain very high bound tariff rates…

Infrastructure Projects: Perhaps Not So Quixotic After All? Over the course of 2014, significant steps forward were taken in the quest to find additional sources of funding for inland waterways infrastructure projects. First came the long awaited and much-celebrated Water Resources, Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA) in June, which included several provisions to address the funding needs of the ever-worsening condition of the inland waterways infrastructure. WRRDA eased…

Earlier this year, the U.S. maritime industry in general, and the inland waterways industry in particular, celebrated the long-awaited passage of the Water Resources, Reform and Development Act of 2014. Among the accomplishments of this legislation were provisions to address the funding needs of the ever-worsening condition of the inland waterways infrastructure. Among these provisions are Sections 2004 and 5014 of WRRDA. Of the two provisions, the public-private partnership (P3) pilot program under Section 5014 has received substantially more attention in the maritime press and at industry conferences than have the studies of federally tax-exempt bonds and potential sources of additional revenue for the IWTF under Section 2004.

Out of a Congress long on budgetary constraints and short on bipartisanship has come the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA)—and by wide margins, no less. In my more cynical moments, I am tempted to think that this is because the marine transportation industry is so invisible to most members of Congress that they do not consider it to be worth fighting over. My better self knows that WRRDA is here because our cause is just and our arguments compelling. (Chairman Shuster should receive a MacArthur Fellowship just for the drawing graphic, which is now everywhere. In case you missed it, check it out at http://transportation.house.gov/wrrda).

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) President and CEO Michael J. Toohey today praised the leadership of House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) for inclusion of a recommendation to increase, by six cents per-gallon, the 20-cent-per-gallon user fee paid for by inland waterways towboat operators into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF). The IWTF funds new construction and major rehabilitation of priority navigation projects on the nation’s inland waterways system. The recommendation was included in Chairman Camp’s discussion draft of the Tax Reform Act of 2014, released today.

The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and The American Waterways Operators (AWO) expressed their support of the bipartisan process to move a long overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). House efforts, led by House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), along with Ranking Member Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), as well as Water Resources and Environment Committee Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Ranking Member Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), culminated in this week’s introduction of H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA). WCI and AWO are urging the inclusion of provisions in H.R. 1149, the WAVE 4 Act…

included in the Port and Maritime Security legislation that is currently under consideration. This is a 'fleshed-out' and somewhat amended version of his earlier barebones proposal. fee on shippers of cargoes into or out of the United States in various amounts depending upon what was being shipped. The monies collected would go into a Port Security Trust Fund to pay for various port security expenditures. Similar fees would be imposed on cargoes entering the United States through Canada and Mexico. Sixty percent of the monies would be used to provide financial assistance to port authorities or waterfront facility operators to address identified vulnerabilities. Eighteen percent would be available for competitive grants to address security requirements.

Senate Bill (S.B.) 477, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Anderson (R-Kailua, Waimanalo), authorizes shipboard gaming upon navigable waters in the state and provides for an advisory referendum. Under the bill, shipboard gaming would be licensed and regulated by a five-member gaming board, which would be established within the Business, Economic Development and Tourism Department. S.B. 477 would also authorize the operation of shuttles to transport individuals to and from gaming ships. Dockside gaming would be forbidden, and gaming excursions could not exceed six hours for a round trip. The legislation provides for a per-person admissions tax of $10. S.B. 477 was referred to the Economic Development Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and then to the Ways and Means Committee.

Representative Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), along with 22 co-sponsors, introduced the Transportation Tax Equity and Fairness Act, H.R. 1001, to repeal the 4.3 cent "deficit reduction" fuel tax paid by railroads and inland waterways carriers. The total number of cosponsors from the Ways and Means Committee now stands at 19, almost a majority of the committee. That show of support for the bill will help ensure its consideration for inclusion in any tax package put together later this year. The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and other supporters of the tax repeal are continuing to work for additional co-sponsors both on and off the committee, and to seek sponsors for companion legislation in the Senate. No action has yet been scheduled on the just-introduced House measure.