The state of Virginia is in the middle of its expected stand-off between the General Assembly (where both houses are controlled by Democrats) and the GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin. I’m not going to go into great detail about this disagreement, but you would be accurate if you think that it probably focuses on bills related to criminal justice, gun safety, education, the environment, health care, taxes, and LGBTQ rights.
But what I want to talk about this morning is a proposal made by Republican state Senator Glenn Sturtevant from Chesterfield (a suburb of Richmond) to increase state funding to help the Port of Norfolk in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last week. An article I read in the Richmond Times Dispatch referred to a post on Twitter (that’s what we’re all still calling it) where Senator Sturtevant noted that the expected special session of the legislature to resolve the anticipated budget showdown could focus instead on the Norfolk port as it handles increased cargo from freighters that cannot reach the Port of Baltimore for the foreseeable future.
Sturtevant wants to go further than simply adding port funding to the state budget; he wants to “scrap the budget and start over with the Port of Virginia as a major priority.” In response, port officials said that while they are grateful for the offer, they do not really need it, thanks to close to $1 billion the state has invested in the port after blocking a potential sale of the port a dozen years ago. Aubry Layne, Chairman of the Virginia Port Authority, noted on Monday “I can’t think of anything we need for the General Assembly to do for the port.”
The story goes on to detail how Layne helped guide state investments in the port under two Democratic governors, first as secretary of transportation under Terry McAuliffe (2014-2018) and then as secretary of finance under Governor Ralph Norman (2018-2022). During these eight years of Democratic governors, the General Assembly (under the control of Republicans for all but two years of this time) advanced money to expand shipping capacity at the port terminals in Portsmouth and Norfolk, modernize the technology of their operations, and both widen and deepened Hampton Roads Harbor to handle more than one big ocean-going freighter at time. Now the Virginia port is stepping up to handle freight bound for Baltimore and working with railroad and trucking companies to move north.
Layne went on to note that “if they hadn’t done it 10 years ago, we couldn’t have done this.”
Sturtevant doesn’t appear to have anything specific in mind to improve operation, but he expects Youngkin to call the legislature into special session if he cannot use his veto and amendment power to drastically rewrite the $188 billion budget the legislature (where both houses are controlled by Democrats) adopted in March.
In a reminder of what bipartisan cooperation looked like in the before times, former Republican state representative Chris Jones, who headed the House Appropriations Committee while McAuliffe was governor, worked with the governor on a bond issue to expand the capacity of the Norfolk International Terminal and later ensured an additional $350 million was included in the budget to jump-start a dredging project that completed the widening of the harbor earlier this year. Dredging is currently underway to deepen the harbor from 50 to 55 feet, deeper than any other port on the East Coast.
Virginia’s proactive investments in the port allowed the Virginia International Gateway Terminal in Portsmouth and the south berth of the Norfolk terminal to expand shipping capacity within their existing footprints and modernize their technology, as part of $1.5 billion in improvements completed in 2019, before COVID. This expansion made a difference in the state’s ability to keep the supply chain running during the COVID-19 emergency.
The port continues to carry out an additional $1.4 billion in work to modernize the other side of the Norfolk terminal and double the capacity of the railyard there to handle double-stacked freight cars run by CSX Corporation and Norfolk Southern Corporation. Rail capacity is crucial for moving Baltimore-bound cargo that is unloaded in Virginia until the Patapsco River shipping channel in Baltimore can be cleared. Layne notes that he expects to handle cargo for Baltimore for up to a year until the channel is cleared and operations are restored. It should also be noted that there are no bridges between the various port facilities and the open ocean. This is a significant aspect of the port’s robustness.
All of this suggests that Senator Sturtevant’s request for a special session to enhance the port is merely performative. That shouldn’t be surprising. The GOP is much better at acting like real government policymakers than they are at making policy. I don’t know the legislative history of the various bills that enhanced the port infrastructure before it was an emergency, but I know that today’s GOP regularly votes against infrastructure bills. I would even wager that Senator Sturdevant voted against such pieces of legislation in this year’s session of the General Assembly. But now he wants to score points by adding unneeded funding for a port structure that is perking along just fine, TYVM. If approved, the funding Sturtevant suggests would be part of the FY 2024-26 two-year budget for the state. This means that the earliest any additional funding would be available would be this summer – when contracts could be issued to perform upgrades. These upgrades would undoubtedly be multi-year projects, meaning they would hardly be started – much less in operation – before the expected re-opening of the port at Baltimore.
Very good piece. Sen. Sturtevant is either acting performatively, or he hasn't been paying attention. Having lived on the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake for most of my life, I pay attention to what happens on those large waterways. I've watched the dredging, been to Norfolk ship yard, and appreciate the work being done. I'm pretty pleased with what I see. So far a bridge hasn't collapsed on me or with me. And good for Aubry Layne. Ahead of Sturtevant.
Duh!