MI HR0195

Requests that Congress enact legislation to require Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund revenues be used exclusively for dredging, infrastructure, operation, and maintenance of federally authorized ports.

Notes that maritime commerce generated 26,819 jobs in Michigan in 2010 and contributed $1.8 billion in income and $3.8 billion in business revenues to the state.

Identifies that shippers pay over $1 billion annually in federal harbor maintenance taxes but the Obama administration budgeted only $758 million for dredging while nearly $1.5 billion was collected, leaving a $6 billion balance in the fund.

States that insufficient dredging forces shippers to operate inefficiently with lighter loads, costing them millions of dollars annually across the Great Lakes region and other ports.

References pending congressional legislation (H.R. 104 and S. 412) as models for ensuring harbor maintenance taxes are used for their intended purpose rather than to finance other federal budget items.