2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 69
BY SENATOR CORTEZ
A RESOLUTION
To recognize Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 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 the ports are located; and
WHEREAS, services provided at Louisiana ports help sustain local, regional, and
statewide economies; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana ports are also points 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 have employed and supported seventy-seven thousand additional jobs,
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and have produced more than 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
WHEREAS, the Port Construction and Development Priority Program has
significantly supported the building of port infrastructures, 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
infrastructures and waterways.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby recognize Tuesday, May 9, 2017, as Ports Day at the state capitol and does
hereby express its appreciation of the economic importance of ports to Louisiana.
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
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