20 May 2009

Lawmakers Propose “Last Mile” Funding

This article is excerpted from the 19 May 2009 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

New House legislation would more than triple the Harbor Maintenance Tax to create a fund to enhance goods movement within 40 miles of a U.S. port.

The National Goods Movement Fund is the subject of the Making Opportunities Via Efficient and More Effective National Transportation Act of 2009 – the MOVEMENT Act (H.R. 2355)….

According to the bill text, the goods movement fund would be aimed at relieving congestion by allocating money to states for projects to improve highway, rail, or port transportation, mitigate environmental damage, and improve cargo inspections and port security.

In previous sessions of Congress, freight advocates called for “last mile” funding to support projects to connect ports with the Interstate highway system, or rail intermodal facilities. The idea was dropped at the last minute when lawmakers drafted the last six-year transportation spending plan.

To pay for the National Goods Movement Fund, the bill calls for an increase in the Harbor Maintenance Tax, an ad valorem assessment against cargo arriving at a port. The rate is currently 0.125 percent. The MOVEMENT bill would raise it 3.5 times, to 0.4375 percent of value. Goods originating in Mexico or Canada would not be taxed, although cargo moving through either country would be assessed at 0.315 percent of value.