Chamber of Commerce, Conservative Groups Split Over WRRDA as Vote Nears
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 will provide significant economic benefit to the country, said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten in an Oct. 23 letter to Congress (here). The Chamber urges House lawmakers to pass the legislation, H.R. 3080 (here), that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct new projects designed to improve the nation’s navigation system, strengthen flood-risk management and restore the environment. The House is slated to debate the bill on Oct. 23, possibly paving the way for a vote on the same day. The Senate passed its version of the bill in May (see 13102233).
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The bill reinforces the Marine Transportation System (MTS), the infrastructure lifeline that fosters foreign trade opportunities for U.S. business, said the Chamber. “The MTS is the hidden backbone of our nation’s freight network,” read the letter. “The business community depends on the MTS to move goods to international markets. Markets outside the United States represent 73 percent of the world’s purchasing power, 87 percent of its economic growth, and 95 percent of its consumers.” The MTS is comprised of ports, coastal and inland waterways, the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The legislation passed unanimously by voice vote out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week and will likely pass with bipartisan support, a committee official said (see 13101809). The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill will cost $3.5 billion through 2018 (see 13102233). The Senate bill, estimated to cost $5.7 billion over that period, passed with 83 votes.
In a separate letter (here) to Congress, several prominent conservative organizations said House lawmakers should oppose the WRRDA of 2013 due to profligate federal spending and failure to address inefficient U.S. Army Corps of Engineers infrastructure projects and practice. The Corps backlog currently totals $60-$80 billion, read the letter, while receiving less than $2 billion in construction funding annually. “Even before the predictable increase in authorizations as this bill goes through the process, this legislation would only shave a few billion dollars off the backlog,” read the letter. “In addition, the legislation explicitly protects the roughly $28 billion worth of projects that were authorized in WRDA 2007, even those that have yet to see a dime of construction funding 6 years after passage.” The Americans for Prosperity, Campaign for Liberty, Competitive Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action for America, Less Government, National Taxpayers Union, R Street Institute, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Taxpayers Protection Alliance endorsed the letter.
The design of the submission process for additional project consideration also does not prioritize need, enabling lawmakers to push projects that serve their specific constituencies, the organizations said. The projects that generate revenue must all be submitted through Congress, the letter added. “Lawmakers are not good at saying no to constituent projects," said the letter. “It would be far better to build in certain criteria, including significant return on investment, to the authorization system.” The legislation, according to the conservative organizations, also fails to reform major cross-subsidies or reduce the tax rate that have generated a Harbor Maintenance Tax Fund (HMTF) surplus over recent years.
“H.R. 3080 mandates greater payouts from the trust fund, which will inevitably cannibalize funding from other Corps mission areas,” read the letter. The bill includes a provision that that would increase the authorization for the Olmsted Lock and Dam project from $775 million to $2.3 billion, read the letter, labeling the provision part of a “Kentucky Kickback.” But "that’s only half the story," the groups said. "H.R. 3080 increases the federal share of that project cost to 75 percent (from 50) in a likely prelude to full federalization after conference with the Senate.”