Recommendation to direct City Manager to support House of Representatives Bill 5624, the "Economy in Motion: The National Multimodal and Sustainable Freight Infrastructure Act" by Congressman Alan Lowenthal.
Item number 11, Communication from Mayor Robert Garcia. Recommendation is support. House of Representatives Bill 5624 The Economy in Motion, the National Multi-Modal Model and Sustainable Freight Infrastructure Act by Congressman Alan Lowenthal. Congressman, you have the floor. Well, thank you. First, I want to say what a pleasure it is to be back used to sit where just where everyone is sitting between Lena and Susie right there. And so just seat and second district and it is a mouthful to say that. And so I'm pleased to say it. This is called I'm Here to Talk to You About Economy in Motion, the National Multimodal and Sustainable Freight Infrastructure Act. You know, I used to say when I was on the city council that maybe this is a quick way of saying it is that, you know, we have developed here in Long Beach and this was 15 years ago, 20 years ago. And throughout that, my time in the state legislature that we have developed here in Long Beach, world class port. So does the Port of L.A. We are really we bring in 40% of the nation's cargo and then we dump these world class port into a third world infrastructure system, whether it's our old, decrepit freeways or rail systems that go through neighborhoods that what we don't have throughout our nation, although it's most critical to our nation, is any national investment strategy for freight infrastructure, how we're going to move the goods throughout this nation that are coming into the port of Long Beach, coming into the Port of L.A. how are we going to keep them here if we have a national freight infrastructure system, one that's efficient, it's connected, it's multi-modal, that throughout the nation we can figure out where to, you know, so that we have resiliency. This is an idea whose time has come. The president has now called for a a national freight program. The secretary of Transportation, Fox, has called for a national freight program for Congress to work on this. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee came out here to visit, had hearings actually in the Port of Los Angeles and called for a national freight program. And there's a national freight advisory committee, which we already had members from Long Beach and from our local community that are on it have also called for a national freight program. Well, that's what 5624 does. It starts that conversation is very complete national freight program, infrastructure program, with a dedicated funding stream. It says this is what, you know, the technical part of what it is. It's a formula that states, if they engage and set up what was first called for in map 21, very few states did it. California was one on a voluntary basis developed a state advisory committee that the that the kinds of projects that we're going to develop are going to come from the bottom up. They're going to come from the from the stakeholders here. We're going to have a state plan. And out of that state plan, based upon if you do your state plan, which also has environmental goals and talks about how this state plan is going to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and it's also going to build infrastructure. On the formula side of that, what each if you do this, if each state does this and has their has their state plans, they will be eligible for funds from this California being having the most existing infrastructure and southern California around the port areas having the vast majority of that will receive the largest or is will be those projects will be eligible by formula to be. If they're in the state plan to be eligible California will get $330 million a year of for projects. That. Also in addition to these formulas they will also be competitive grants that will be grants that cities states. Together. Regions can come together and say we really need this. And of those competitive grants, there will be a certain percentage of those will be set aside for electrification and zero emission grants. And so that the kinds of things that we've talked about here and saying we'd really like to do it through our neighborhoods, but there's no money to do this. There will be money for those communities that want to create competitive grants that move us towards zero emission. Now, the largest thing is how are you going to pay for this? How are you going to have each having both a competitive grants and also formula grants? The way we're going to pay for this and what this puts out on the table is that we have to have a dedicated and a sustainable amount of revenue source. And in the revenue source, which will generate in this bill about $8 billion a year, 4 billion for formulas, 4 billion for competitive grants. Of that money, it will be a user fee. Those that that if you own the goods and you're moving goods from Long Beach to Chicago, you you pay to a carrier, whether it's the rail system or the trucking lines, you pay a certain you get you pay to move your goods. Well, a certain percentage, 1% of that will be in what is called a waybill. And that will be put in a. National Trust Fund, just as we have the Highway Trust Fund, which is your gasoline when you buy gasoline, that's what pays for the highways in the country. This will also those of the users of the highways pay for that. We will have the users of freight pay for the infrastructure that they will benefit by, because it will all go back into this into this $0.01. Secretary of transportation has been working with our office on this they want is many bills they like this bill in terms of the complexity and I'm not saying they're buying into the funding stream that's going to be done at the national debate. But if we really want to have freight infrastructure, we have to figure out how we're going to pay for it as a nation. And it is not going to come out of the general fund or the income tax. That is not going to be where it's going to come from. And with the sequester, the only way you can have money in from existing money is if you figure out who you're going to take it from and then figure out how they're going to replace it. So this is a it's going to be an exciting what we're trying to do is to map 21, which is the reauthorization of all of our Highway Trust Fund and our transit funds, which come from the highway and come from the excise tax on gasoline. They will all be running out this spring. This is the time. They, too, have a freight as part of a national highway, as part of our MAP 21 reauthorization. So that's really what I'm here for. I already have the support of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and lots of ports throughout the nation in terms of the Coalition for American Gateways and Trade Card is want this bill to be part of the discussion. The Port of Long Beach has already endorsed it. I would hoped that the local city council will also this will be of great benefit to our region. This will enable us to not only shape our port, but to do the kinds of work that will help to shape the nations. And we in California have spent so money, so much time creating this kind of structure that what we're doing is basically taking it to the nation and saying, this is what we'd like to do , and so I hope you can have your support. Well, thank you, Congressman. And I, I put this on the agenda today because I'm a big supporter, obviously, of the bill that you're that you're working on. And I think you're you always represent our interests well and always have. And so with that, I'd like to get a motion for approval because there's a motion. And the second let me first if there's any public comment on the item. Okay. Seeing none that I'm going to. A couple members want to say a few words and then we'll go to the vote. Councilwoman Mongo. I want to thank you for coming here tonight. Since I did my first college report on you back when you were an assembly member, we met for the first time up until us working together on water issues for Long Beach. I'm thankful that you're here as many followers at home know, a few weeks ago, when we first discussed this. I was hesitant about the taxation on our trucks and our community and the businesses here, and I'm excited to hear that we're talking through those components. I'm glad that you also signed on on to Congresswoman Huntsville. I'll be supportive of your bill tonight, and I thank you for taking us to D.C. for us. Thank you. Councilwoman Price. Thank you. I, too, want to thank you for coming here tonight. I think a lot of people don't realize just how important of a function the port has for our city and that the various ports do for our nation as a whole, and looking for ways to be collaborative and forward thinking as the port industry changes and as the competition changes I think is very important. And I thank you for representing us and for bringing this forward. And I too will be supporting this measure. Thank you. Councilman Gonzalez. I, too, want to just thank you. I know we chatted about it. Yes. We and I really appreciate you just always bringing these issues forward to us and staying committed. Your dedication and leadership to Long Beach, but also just mainly to the port, is so very impactful and especially when it comes to environmental goods movement. I mean, that's always at the forefront of what you do. And we appreciate it. Thank you. So much. Just in what. Is a real I'm sorry. Thank you. And Councilmember Andrews. Yes, thank you, Mayor. You know, first of all, I'd like to thank you, Congressman Lowenthal, for passing this bill. If passed, you know, this bill would allow the city and the port of Long Beach the necessary funding, you know, to pay ideas and movements, infrastructure and implement the changes needed to reduce, you know, greenhouse gas emission and local air pollution. You know, compared to the overall good it does for the economy and, you know, for the environment. And and I ask myself, is something well worth the effort that you put into this? And I hope everything goes well. Thank you. Thank you. And with that, will Castro votes members, please cast your votes. Six zero. Great. Thank you. Congratulations, freshman. We'll see you soon. And Happy Hanukkah to you. We're going to go ahead and do 11, 12 and then consent very quickly before our hour, 6 p.m. time certain. We're going to we're going to try to get through these items quickly. Since we have some time, I'm going to take up first item number 12. Actually, why don't we do consent as our friends are exiting? Can I get a motion for consent? Okay. There's been a motion and a second.