NCGA urges Congress to pass Jobs Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The nation’s most prominent corn growers’ organization has urged Congress to pass President Obama’s American Jobs Act and put people to work on crucial inland waterway improvement projects such as lock and dam modernization.

When Steve Ebke represented the National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA) on Capitol Hill during a Sept. 21 hearing called by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Water Resources, the Nebraska corn producer informed lawmakers about the economic importance of investing in the nation’s waterway infrastructure.

Ebke’s testimony came just days after Obama’s televised speech calling for passage of the Act, during which the President referred to waterway infrastructure upgrades as an example of ways to put unemployed and laid-off Americans back to work. The NCGA was the only agricultural commodity group to testify in front of the committee, according to Rod Snyder, NCGA director of public policy.

“It was very good of the committee to involve Steve and the Corn Growers in order to represent the farmer’s perspective of the inland waterway system,” Snyder said, while acknowledging the invitation to testify had been received prior to the President’s televised speech. “However, the timing worked out nicely because we were able to reference elements of the President’s speech.

“We appreciated the President making mention of inland waterways infrastructure as a priority with the American Jobs Act.”

Snyder said Ebke’s “bottom-line” message to the House Committee was the nation’s inland waterways are of vital importance to the nation’s farmers and the agricultural economy.

“Sixty percent of all grain exported by the U.S. comes down the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans and makes its way through the lock system on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. If you take that transportation option off the table, you are pushing that grain to other modes of transportation and it becomes less competitive and more expensive to ship,” Snyder explained.

He added some of the locks and dams tabbed for modernization have not been upgraded since their construction 70-80 years ago.

“On the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers there are 600-foot lock chambers that are about half the size of what a modern tow needs. They often have to separate (the barges) and reconnect them on the other end of the lock. You lose several hours of time during that process,” Snyder said.

The 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorized seven locks on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers for upgrades, though funding has never been approved to begin construction on any of the projects.

If one of the locks and dams were to malfunction to the point river traffic was impeded, the economic and logistic repercussions would be felt throughout the entire U.S. economy, according to a recent NCGA-funded study.

“If you have a catastrophic failure, you really do have a major shipping problem because of the amount of grain that comes down the river,” said Snyder, who also pointed out the importance to farmers of goods being transported upriver from the Port of New Orleans and other locations.

“Inputs farmers need such as fertilizer come upriver. Going up and down the river there is importance to the agricultural community.”

While a new WRDA was drafted for the 2011 Congress, NCGA officials admit it will be “very, very challenging” to pass the bill this year or next because of budget constraints. Instead, the group is focusing on persuading Congress to adapt the Inland Waterway Capital Development Plan crafted by the Inland Waterways Users Board, the Army Corps of Engineers and others.

This plan consists of an outline of prioritized inland waterway improvement projects awaiting authorization, with funding provided through a proposed increase in the diesel fuel tax paid by barges. A 6- to 9-cent increase over the current 20 cents per gallon paid is on the table, though the NCGA is willing to go even higher, Snyder indicated.

“This shifts some of the cost-share between the Inland Waterways Trust Fund and federal dollars,” he said. “(NCGA’s) top legislative issue in this area is to get the (plan) adapted by Congress.”

Though NCGA was appreciative of Obama’s support for inland waterway infrastructure modernization as a way to put people back to work, the organization is still at odds with the administration’s plan to pay for the upgrades. So far, Obama has shown support for an increase in lockage fees, which the NCGA denounces as unfair to certain users.

“It is unfair to those farmers and shippers – such as some in the North – who must rely on the locks more and therefore will pay more,” said Snyder. “We prefer to (raise) the existing diesel fuel tax.”

Meanwhile, a group comprised of Illinois agricultural commodity groups, agribusinesses and government agencies drafted a letter to select federal lawmakers urging passage of the American Jobs Act: “Now that the President has included inland waterways in his American Jobs Program, you have an opportunity to help put Americans back to work and revitalize American agriculture. We urge you to act in a bipartisan manner quickly and efficiently (to) build and modernize locks and dams,” the letter, dated Sept. 16, reads in part.

It was signed by Philip Nelson, president of Illinois Farm Bureau, James A. Reed, president of Illinois Corn Growers Assoc., Ron Moore, president of Illinois Soybean Assoc., Charles J. Spencer, director of government affairs for GROWMARK, and David Koltveit, president of Grain & Feed Assoc. of Illinois, among others.