By Matt Tomsic
mtomsic@scbiznews.com
Published April 5, 2011

Thirty-six Congressional representatives – including five from South Carolina – are asking the House Budget Committee to use port taxes for maintenance and dredging in the country’s harbors.

South Carolina Republican Reps. Jeff Duncan, Joe Wilson, Tim Scott, Trey Gowdy and Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn signed a letter written by Rep. Jeff Landry, a Louisiana Republican, who is leading the push for using the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for harbor dredging, according to a news release from Clyburn’s office.

The state’s sixth Congressman, Republican Rep. Mike Mulvaney, didn’t sign the letter.

“Traditionally, members do not sign letters that are sent to the committees they sit on,” said Bryan Partridge, the representative’s spokesman, in an emailed statement. “That being said, Rep. Mulvaney has voiced his support for Rep. Landry’s letter.”

The trust fund is financed through a .125% tax on cargo imported to a port or moved between two domestic ports. The trust fund can only be used for routine maintenance and dredging, said Sharon Axson, spokeswoman for Rep. Tim Scott.

The federal government hasn’t been spending all of the trust fund’s revenue, leaving a surplus of more than $6 billion and creating a trend that will continue with President Barack Obama’s budget.

The executive branch expects the tax to bring in $1.5 billion but only allocates $789 million for harbor maintenance and dredging, according to the letter. The administration’s budget also expands authorized uses of money from the trust fund.

“Meanwhile, the vast majority of our nation’s harbors, including eight of the top 10 largest ports, are not being maintained to their fully authorized width and depth, thus constricting our ability to export products, engage in international trade and create jobs,” according to Landry’s letter.

The lawmaker’s written request may not have a direct impact on the search for federal money to deepen Charleston Harbor. Obama’s budget did not include funds needed for an Army Corps of Engineers study of the harbor deepening project, leaving lawmakers scrambling to find federal dollars for the project amidst a self-imposed earmarks ban and continued spending resolutions as Congress haggles over the federal budget.