Governor Kitzhaber sends letter to the Administration in support of small ports

 

Yesterday, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber submitted a letter to the Obama Administration in support of small coastal ports. This letter reinforces the message sent to the President in late November by Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR), Sen. Ron Wyden (OR), Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR), Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR) and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA). PNWA has been working with the Governor's office on the letter over the last few weeks, and could not be more appreciative of his support.

 

Small port advocacy has been a priority issue for PNWA over the last year. Now that we have entered the second fiscal year without earmarks and the first fiscal year of our small coastal projects in the Northwest being almost completely zeroed out in the President's budget, the pain for these ports and for the region is starting to set in. As Nor'wester readers will remember, $30M in additional O&M funding was included for small ports nationwide in FY2012. This was a great show of support by Congress for the nation's smaller navigation projects, but unfortunately does not address even a fraction of the need. Both the House and Senate have included the same level of funding for small ports in their respective FY2013 bills. PNWA continues to advocate for retention of this funding, if a FY2013 Energy & Water Appropriations bill is finalized next year. We have also been focusing our efforts on direct funding for these projects in the President's FY2014 budget, scheduled for release in early February 2013. Inclusion in the budget will ensure that these projects receive funding in the next fiscal year.

 

For more information on our small port efforts, visit our website or contact Heather Stebbings. For a list of all of our supported Corps projects, please click here.