RAMP 1/8/14 @ 8AM

AGENDA  -  January 8, 2014

The Fabulich Center

3600 Port of Tacoma Road; 98424

8:00     Welcome & Self-Introductions                                  

            Pat McCarthy, RAMP Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

8:05     Maritime Goods Movement Act

            Sean Eagan, Government Affairs Director, Port of Tacoma

8:20     JBLM/I-5 Transportation Package Request

            John Caulfield, City Manager, City of Lakewood

8:40     RAMP Legislative Priorities

            Pat McCarthy, RAMP Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

8:45     2014 Legislative Session Outlook

9:00     Closing Remarks & Adjourn

            Tom Pierson, RAMP Co-Chair, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO         

Next RAMP Meeting

February 5, 2014
Fabulich Center; 3600 Port of Tacoma Road; 98424

RAMP is a regional coalition including business, labor, public and private organizations and citizens dedicated to improved mobility in the South Sound and Washington State. Our mission is to ensure a healthy regional economy associated with the development of an effective, efficient transportation system and the resources to sustain it. RAMP is co-chaired by Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, Port of Tacoma CEO John Wolfe and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO Tom Pierson.

Container Tax Debate Heats Up

There have been some significant developments in the container tax debate in Washington State this week. As some may recall, the legislature considered a bill to impose a $50 per twenty-foot equivalent unit tax in 2007 (most containers passing through Washington's ports are 2 TEUs in length). That bill was amended to create a study of potential diversionary impacts of a container tax, as well as other potential alternatives for funding freight infrastructure. The Legislature retained Cambridge Systematics to conduct the study.

Earlier this year, Cambridge's subcontractor, Dr. Robert Leachman, validated industry's arguments that significant diversion would result if a tax were adopted—a 30 percent drop in volumes with a $30/TEU tax. What would this mean for Washington state? A loss of 9,415 jobs and $58.5 million in lost wages.

This week Cambridge concluded that even on major freight corridors, such as a completed SR-167, passenger vehicles, and not freight, received the majority of the benefits from each of these projects. They also found that heavy trucks, a subset of which carry containers, received the least amount of benefit.

Responding to this information, key legislators on the state transportation committees have said it is difficult to provide the linkage necessary to justify a container tax, especially given the potential diversionary impacts.