Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., digging deeper into specifics of the next multi-year surface transportation bill, says he wants to use the measure to revamp the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to spend down its large balances.

Mica, in a May 23 opinion column in the Politico newspaper, said … the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund “is critical for dredging and other harbor channel improvements,” but that “these funds are not being used for their intended purpose of maintaining our ports.” He also said the fund “must not remain caught up in the budgetary gimmicks.”

From the Journal of Commerce