2016 Regular Session ENROLLED SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 101 BY SENATOR CORTEZ A RESOLUTION To recognize Wednesday, May 11, 2016, as Ports Day at the state capitol. WHEREAS, Louisiana has an abundant and robust port system ranging from ports along the Mississippi, Calcasieu, Red, Atchafalaya, and Ouachita rivers, the Louisiana coast, and inland waterways extending to all areas of the state; and WHEREAS, Louisiana ports support domestic and international trade, carry twenty-five percent of United States waterborne commerce, support nearly twenty percent of oil and gas service and exploration, and commercial fishing industries, and provide specific services to the communities in which they are located; and WHEREAS, services provided at these ports help sustain local, regional, and statewide economies; and WHEREAS, Louisiana ports are also a point of connection between producers of products in the state and buyers of products throughout the country and the world; and WHEREAS, each port offers unique advantages and helps to encourage industrial development, directly and indirectly providing jobs to local citizens and revenues to local governments; and WHEREAS, Louisiana's agricultural, petrochemical, food, paper, wood, and fabricated metal products industries rely on Louisiana ports to move their goods in national and global trade, and are dependent on and supported by Louisiana ports that support five hundred twenty-five thousand Louisiana jobs, or one in five Louisiana jobs, produce thirty-three billion dollars in personal earnings, and four billion two hundred million dollars in state and local tax revenue; and WHEREAS, Louisiana's ports assets have grown by almost six hundred million dollars in the last decade, and ports' businesses and tenants serving port cargo, cruise, and support operations employ and support seventy-seven thousand additional jobs, produce over four billion dollars in personal earnings, two-hundred ninety-eight million dollars in state taxes, and two hundred thirty-five million dollars in local taxes; and Page 1 of 2 SR NO. 101 ENROLLED WHEREAS, the Port Construction and Development Priority Program has significantly supported the building of port infrastructure and for each one dollar of funding to the program, Louisiana receives eight dollars in jobs, taxes, and economic benefits; and WHEREAS, despite uncertain funding, to remain competitive, Louisiana ports are planning approximately ninety-two projects costing one billion eight hundred million dollars over the next five years which is supported by the 2015 Statewide Transportation Plan that recommends the investment of seven billion six hundred million dollars in port infrastructure and waterways. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby recognize Wednesday, May 11, 2016, as Ports Day at the state capitol and does hereby express its appreciation of the economic importance of ports to the Louisiana economy. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Ports Association of Louisiana and to each port, harbor, and terminal district in the state. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE Page 2 of 2