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Committee approves $36 million port construction priority list including four new projects
Summary
The joint committee approved the fiscal-year priority list for the Port Construction and Development Program, a $36 million package covering four new port projects that DOTD says will create or retain 131 jobs.
The Joint Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works on March 24 approved the fiscal-year 2025–2026 priority list for the Port Construction and Development Program, a package DOTD presented as $36,000,000 in total funding covering four new projects.
Julia Fisher Cormier, commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), told the committee the list includes projects at four ports and that the package “will create or retain 131 jobs in the state.” She said there were no changes to the port priority list since the prior week’s public hearing.
The nut graff: The program funds capital projects at state ports; DOTD characterized this priority list as unchanged from last week’s public hearing and asked the committee for favorable consideration. The committee approved the item by voice vote after a motion to approve was offered on the floor.
DOTD presented the four named port beneficiaries as Ports of Vinton, Port of New Orleans, Port of Manchac, and Port of Greater Baton Rouge. Cormier summarized the package: “It is $36,000,000 in total funding, and it will create or retain 131 jobs in the state.” The committee did not expand on project-level budgets, schedules, or grant matches during the meeting.
Action and procedure: A motion to approve the program was made and, with no objections recorded on the transcript, the committee chair declared the program approved. The transcript does not identify the committee member who moved the motion by name for this item.
Context and next steps: Cormier reminded the committee that DOTD holds periodic hearings for the office’s three funding programs (ports, aviation, short-line rail) and said the port priority list presented represents DOTD’s recommended slate for the fiscal year. The committee did not request further information at the March 24 meeting.
Ending: The committee moved on to other multimodal programs after approving the port priority list.
