Harbor Maintenance Tax

Port expansion included in giant federal spending package

President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Tuesday a massive relief and federal spending package passed by Congress late Monday that authorizes major port expansion projects and opens $1 billion in funds for harbor maintenance dredging.

The port funding legislation, the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), was part of a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2021 appropriations omnibus bill that also contains $900 billion in emergency COVID-19 relief and program funding for the U.S. Department...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-expansion-included-in-giant-federal-spending-package

ILWU: Don’t blame labor for ports’ market share drop

California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently has received two written pleas to take action to prevent the state’s port industry from losing more market share. While the writers agree something must be done to stop the flow of business to ports on the East and Gulf coasts, they do not entirely agree on the causes of the loss. 

Fifty-two organizations led by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) sent a letter to Newsom on Monday that said, in part, that importers began taking their business...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ilwu:-dont-blame-labor-for-ports-market-share-drop

Seroka working to stem tide of market share loss

The always cool and collected Gene Seroka nearly got fired up when talking about Southern California ports’ loss of market share during a press conference on cargo volumes.

Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, gave a more than three-minute response when asked Wednesday about what steps he was taking to stop the flow of business to the East and Gulf coasts and a letter 52 organizations sent to California Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week urging him to take action to reverse...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/seroka-working-to-stem-tide-of-market-share-loss

From Assembly Bill 5 to COVID-19

A West Virginia senator got up to speed on a boatload of issues important to California ports and truckers in a video meeting hosted by the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA) this week.

Although she represents West Virginia, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito casts votes that impact West Coast ports and intermodal providers as a member of the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works, Commerce, Science & Transportation, and Appropriations committees.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/from-assembly-bill-5-to-covid-19