Loeffler Asks Administration to Continue Robust Funding of Savannah Harbor Project
Loeffler pushes for funding levels that will keep Savannah Harbor deepening project on track
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is asking the Trump administration for $93.6 million in funding for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to be included in the administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget.
In a letter to Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney and Acting OMB Director Russell Vought, Loeffler said the requested funding for SHEP, combined with a total investment of $301 million from the state of Georgia and $130.28 million in federal funding from the FY2020 budget, would keep Georgia’s number one infrastructure project on track to be completed in four years.
“As one of the largest in the nation, the Port of Savannah plays a crucial role in Georgia’s economy as well as the United States’ overall economy,” said Loeffler. “Maintaining robust funding for this project is imperative to continuing the economic development we have seen as a country throughout the Trump administration. I am grateful to the administration for their contribution to SHEP in 2020, and I look forward to working with the president in making sure this critical project remains a priority not only for Georgia, but for the country.”
Full text of the letter:
Dear Director Mulvaney and Acting Director Vought,
As you continue to prepare the President’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget, I would like to call to your attention a top priority for my home state of Georgia. As you know, the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to deepen the harbor channel from 42 feet to 47 feet is recognized as the essential deep draft navigation project currently underway in the United States based on its national economic impact and its remarkable high benefit-to-cost ratio.
Completion of SHEP will deliver $282 million in annual transportation savings to the nation. Furthermore, the projected benefit-to-cost ratio of total projects costs for SHEP is 7.3 to 1, and the benefit-to-cost ratio of the construction of the remaining segments of the project is a remarkable 10.7 to 1. You and your staff have been incredibly helpful in recent years in working to understand the necessity of this project as well as the need for consistent funding. In particular, we appreciate that SHEP received $130.28 million in Fiscal Year 2020.
With SHEP in the final stages of completion, I write to ask you to build upon this progress by including $93.6 million in the President’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal. This amount will put SHEP on track for completion in the next four fiscal years, with an estimated total of $147.6 million needed to complete the project by Fiscal Year 2024.
The state of Georgia continues to be fully invested in seeing this project through to completion. As you know, Georgia has contributed approximately $301 million for its share of SHEP costs. Furthermore, the State has announced its intent to spend an additional $2.5 billion over the next decade for land-side development to enhance the efficiencies that will come with completion of SHEP.
Thank you again for past support and consideration for this vital effort. With your ongoing support, we expect to complete this project in a timely manner to continue providing jobs, economic development, and commerce in Georgia and throughout the Southeast.
###