Reps. Dave Reichert and Derek Kilmer joined with 90 House colleagues in writing the U.S. Senate appropriators calling for the funding of a program to benefit Harbor Maintenance Tax donor ports like the Port of Tacoma.

Only a few weeks ago, Congress adopted the Water Resource Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), which authorized $50 million in rebates for customers who use donor ports. These natural deep water harbors receive very little in federal funds for harbor infrastructure despite the fact that customers using them pay tens of millions of dollars to the federal government every year.

While WRRDA seeks to address some of this inequity, Senate appropriators have yet to fund the program.