AWO, Maritime Interests Work To Protect Industry In PNW
It’s been a busy legislative session in Washington state, as maritime interests cheered a bill recognizing the crucial contributions of the industry to the state’s economy — and also fended off a threat to federal programs that encourage shipbuilding.
Legislators in Washington state recently completed their 60-day legislative session, which included a “win” for the maritime industry. The legislators passed HR 4680, a non-binding resolution that formally recognizes the contributions of the domestic maritime industry — including tugboats, towboats and barges — to the state’s economy and its disaster preparedness. It highlights the industry’s role in resilience and emergency response, supporting partnerships for regional safety.
Rep. Cindy Ryu sponsored the resolution.
“She has been very interested in supporting marine transportation, especially as it relates to resiliency should a catastrophe occur,” Kyle Burleson, director of West Coast Advocacy for the American Waterways Operators, told The Waterways Journal. “This was an important resolution for us given that it allowed us to work on it with organized labor.”
‘Millionaire Tax’ Threat To Shipbuilding
Another bill recently passed by the Washington legislature, though, posed a possible problem for the maritime industry. This is SB 6346, dubbed a “millionaire tax.” It imposes a 9.9 percent tax on long-term capital gains income exceeding $1 million for individuals, effective for tax years starting January 1, 2028. The first $1 million in income is exempt, meaning a taxpayer with $1 million in income owes nothing, but the next dollar is taxed at 9.9 percent.
The tax aims to raise roughly $3.7 billion for education, housing and healthcare, while funding tax credits for working families and small businesses. The potential problem for maritime interests was that it would have affected tax-deferred funds under programs of the Maritime Administration (MarAd) designed to encourage domestic shipbuilding, including Capital Construction Funds.
The maritime industry successfully lobbied for exemptions to SB 6346 by emphasizing the negative impact on federal MarAd shipbuilding investments, such as capital construction funds. By positioning the tax as an obstacle to critical federal infrastructure and national security projects, maritime interests ensured that funds for building and repairing U.S.-flagged ships were excluded from the high-earner tax.
“Section 311 on page 13 is the section dealing with Capital Construction Accounts (CCA) that the maritime industry worked on in Olympia alongside the Washington Maritime Federation in order to protect investments in CCAs,” Burleson said.
He singled out Rep. Julia Reed, Rep. Greg Nance and Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon for their efforts including this language.
“Rep. Reed is a former Sea Scout and chair of the Washington State Maritime Caucus,” he said.
The American Waterways Operators also championed successful appropriations over the last few sessions from the Washington state government for Tacoma and Anacortes. The Tacoma and Anacortes pumpouts should be online in 2026. AWO led the effort for the $800,000 appropriation at the Port of Anacortes and $103,000 in Tacoma.
“These successes speak to the need of pumpouts as it relates to the Puget Sound No Discharge Zone,” Burleson said.
He said AWO and its maritime allies prevailed in opposing a bill that would have brought California’s Ocean-Going Vessels At Berth rule to Washington state. AWO also played an instrumental role in defeating a measure to remove the favorable stevedoring tax rate that incoming ships can use.
Burleson added, “As you may know, the namesake of the Jones Act, Sen. Wesley Jones, was from Washington state.”
The Jones Act has been much in the news again lately, as President Trump authorized a 60-day waiver of its requirements in response to disruptions in the oil markets due to the Iran conflict. The waiver has been strongly criticized by maritime interests as unnecessary and not helpful for oil or gas prices.
