Bill Text: HI SR81 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Jones Act; Request for Exemption
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to TIA/PSM, WAM. [SR81 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2013-SR81-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
81 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
requesting THE PRESIDENT AND congress to exempt hawaii, alaska, guam, and puerto rico from the "Jones Act" for the health, safety, and security of their residents.
WHEREAS, the closure of the Tesoro refinery in Hawaii leaves one company to handle our state's fuel needs, sharpening our state's vulnerability with respect to energy; and
WHEREAS, the need for a "Jones Act" exemption was shown in November 2012, when United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was compelled to issue a waiver to allow foreign-flag tankers to carry petroleum products to remedy the problem of severe fuel shortages in north eastern states; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii's beef and pork industries are severely restricted because there are no American-registered livestock carriers, while the roughly one-hundred and sixty such carriers in the world fleet are foreign-registered and unavailable to Hawaii livestock farmers due to the "Jones Act"; and
WHEREAS, those same beef and pork industries are also at an economic disadvantage because the "Jones Act" results in artificially higher costs of livestock feed; and
WHEREAS, a June 17, 2010 article in Smart Business Hawaii reported that shipping experts estimate "Jones Act" restrictions raise shipping five-and-a-half times higher, or almost $4,000 more, for a container to go from Los Angeles to Honolulu, than the much longer distance from Los Angeles to Hong Kong; and
WHEREAS, the article reported Hawaii carriers increased their rates in response to reductions in oil prices and demand, while international shippers dropped their rates; and
WHEREAS, Jim O'Keefe, a bakery owner and the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed in Hawaii in 2009, stated that his research showed that Hawaii shipping rates were three times the Hong Kong shipping rates for an equivalent distance, which he contended doubled prices of goods bought from the mainland; and
WHEREAS, the United States has protected its shipping industry through cabotage laws, such as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, P.L. 66-261, commonly known as the "Jones Act"; and
WHEREAS, then-Congressman Ed Case noted that ninety-seven to ninety-eight per cent of our goods from the mainland come by shipping, and lent his support in Congress for an exemption from the "Jones Act" for Hawaii to reduce this vulnerability to even minor disruptions in transportation; and
WHEREAS, international maritime insurance data demonstrates that ships over twenty years of age have an increased risk for accidents, which means that imports to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and Puerto Rico are at risk because these are served by "Jones Act" ships with an average age of twenty-eight years, while international fleets have an average age of twelve years; and
WHEREAS, a January 4, 2013 Smart Business Hawaii article on the United States Government Accountability Office's study on the impact of the "Jones Act", noted that the flag, ownership, and crew restrictions added about twenty per cent to ship operating costs and the build requirement added three hundred to five hundred per cent to deep draft ship construction costs; and
WHEREAS, the "Jones Act" restricts the domestic carriage of cargo to vessels that are built in the United States, fly a United States flag, are owned by individuals or legal entities in the United States, and employ United States citizens; and
WHEREAS, unlike the unfair protectionism of the "Jones Act", all other modes of domestic transportation, including aircraft, railroad cars and locomotives, trucks, automobiles and mass transit vehicles, are permitted without restriction to use foreign manufactured equipment for commercial operation; and
WHEREAS, the geography of the non-contiguous jurisdictions precludes access to alternatives that are readily available within the mainland United States, and makes them completely dependent on ocean shipping for surface trade; and
WHEREAS, these restrictions cause an immense, unfair burden of higher costs and an elevated cost of living for Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, and severely threatens the health and security of residents and visitors in the event of a disruption in the delivery of fuel, food, or other vital goods; and
WHEREAS, the late Senator Daniel K Inouye, noting the failure of his "Project America" shipbuilding program and that domestic shipyards could not successfully construct large cruise ships, sponsored a "Jones Act" exemption in the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act, granting three foreign-built cruise ships a coastwise endorsement to operate in Hawaii (P.L. 108-7), known as the Hawaii Cruise Trade Exemption; and
WHEREAS, an exemption from the "Jones Act" would provide an economic benefit to and protect the health and security of the people of Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and Puerto Rico; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, that the President of the United States and the United States Congress are respectfully requested to exempt Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and Puerto Rico, from the Jones Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, and Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam's governors and congressional delegations.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Jones Act; Request for Exemption
