Port of Tacoma commissioners have expressed appreciation to Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for a bill they introduced Tuesday to reform the harbor maintenance tax.

The Maritime Goods Movement Act changes U.S. tax code to ensure it does not disadvantage American ports, as the current system does. It also calls for all the money collected to be spent on port infrastructure, including maintenance dredging and such additional uses as transportation infrastructure for donor ports, like Tacoma, with naturally deep water.

“The U.S. tax code has put Puget Sound ports at a competitive disadvantage relative to other ports in North America for nearly three decades,” commissioners wrote in a letter to the senators. “Ports like ours receive little-to-no benefit from the tax, which in fact is used to maintain competing harbors located elsewhere in the United States.”

The commissioners recognized the senators for “demonstrating a commitment to jobs both in Washington state as well as throughout the U.S.”

Learn more about the bill.

About the Port of Tacoma
The Port of Tacoma is an economic engine for South Puget Sound, with more than 43,000 family-wage jobs in Pierce County and 113,000 jobs across Washington state connected to Port activities. A major gateway to Asia and Alaska, the Port of Tacoma is among the largest container ports in North America. The Port is also a major center for bulk, breakbulk and project/heavy-lift cargoes, as well as automobiles and trucks.