A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including John Cornyn (R-TX), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN), have introduced the Securing Smart Investments in Our Ports Act.
This legislation aims to ensure that ports on the Texas Gulf Coast, and those on the Gulf Coast generally, receive a more equitable share of federal funding designated for port infrastructure upgrades and repairs.
Senator Cornyn emphasized the economic importance of Texas seaports, stating, “Texas’ seaports facilitate hundreds of billions of dollars in international trade that benefits state economies across the country, but the current division of funding for critical infrastructure projects doesn’t reflect this reality. This bill would direct the Maritime Administration to even the playing field between ports on the East and West Coasts and those on the Gulf and Great Lakes, ensuring a fairer funding allocation for investments in Texas and elsewhere.”
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The Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) is a federal grant program administered by the Maritime Administration. It provides funding for essential port improvements, such as:
- Reconstructing docks
- Improving access to transportation routes
- Expanding storage capacity
However, the distribution of PIDP funds has been uneven. From 2019 to 2024, Great Lakes ports received as little as two percent of all PIDP awards, and Gulf Coast ports received as little as six percent. In contrast, ports on the East and West Coasts were awarded nearly 70 percent of the available funding.
The Securing Smart Investments in Our Ports Act seeks to rectify this imbalance by requiring the Maritime Administration to consider fair regional distribution when awarding PIDP grants.
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