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Transportation committee accepts port-priority list; Cameron Parish dock project ranks third
Summary
The joint House–Senate Transportation Committee accepted the list of port-priority applications and heard a presentation on a Cameron Parish dock expansion that seeks state Port Priority money; committee members pressed staff about how the new Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission interacts with the existing Port Priority program.
The Joint Transportation Committee voted to accept port-priority applications submitted through June 1 for inclusion in the state’s port priority program, committee members said at the Aug. 19 hearing.
Julia Fisher Cormier, commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce inside DOTD, told the committee that the port-priority program is funded from the Transportation Trust Fund and that staff currently has about $40 million per year available to award. She described the application before the committee as a request from the Cameron Parish Port, Harbor and Terminal District for northern-loop dock improvements and expansion, and said the application requests roughly $9,000,370 in Port Priority funds, would be matched by local money and is projected to create about 15 jobs.
The committee was shown the program’s scoring and ranking. Fisher Cormier said the Cameron Parish application ranked third of three applications received in this quarterly cycle; she emphasized that scoring is driven by a benefit-cost review done by DOTD economists and by an evaluation from Louisiana Economic Development (LED).
Members asked how the Port Priority program relates to the newly formed Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission and a recently circulated resolution that identifies so-called “critical projects” and mentions, in one place, $100 million. Fisher Cormier said the two efforts were intended to be complementary — the Port Priority grants fund projects generally in the $10–15 million range while the new commission has discussed larger, deeper-water projects — but acknowledged questions remain about coordination and representation for coastal and inland ports.
Representative Tarver moved to accept the submitted port-priority applications as presented; the committee indicated no objections and the motion was adopted.
Why it matters: the Port Priority program is a recurring source of state transportation capital for publicly sponsored port projects. Members expressed concern that a separate commission and large “wish lists” could change how projects are identified and funded, and asked staff to clarify how the programs and any dedicated dollars would be coordinated so smaller coastal and inland ports are not overlooked.
What’s next: DOTD staff said letters are sent to ports about funding status and that the agency will provide more detail on which projects are current and “shovel-ready,” and how the $40 million annual payout is applied to projects on the prioritized list.
