SPONSOR: Taylor (48)
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass by Consent" by the Standing Committee on Transportation by a vote of 18 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Consent and Procedure by a vote of 7 to 0.
This bill specifies that funds in the Waterways and Ports Trust Fund can only be withdrawn at the request of a Missouri Port Authority for statutorily permitted port purposes and adds the City of St. Louis to the locations in which a capital improvement project can be sited in order to receive an appropriation from the Waterways and Ports Trust Fund.
This bill is the same as HB 685 (2025) and similar to HB 2216 (2024).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this is a simple fix to an unintended failure in the construction of the current statute. St. Louis's port is the largest in the State. The port authority currently can't receive funding from the Waterways and Ports Trust Fund, because it neither owns nor has a long term lease on the land where its facilities sit. Instead, the port authority manages land owned by the city. This bill simply allows the intended distribution of the Fund.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Taylor; St. Louis Port Authority; Missouri Port Authority Association; and Arnie Dienoff.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
OTHERS: Others testifying on the bill say that the Fund was intended to allow the projects to still be prioritized by year, but if there was a dock that needed to be done in a dry year, it could be scheduled further in the future without appropriated funds reverting to General Revenue. The appropriations of the General Assembly are still followed.
Testifying in person on the bill was Ed Hassinger, MoDOT.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: