When the White House budget for fiscal 2015 failed to contain the expected funds for dredging the Savannah harbor, Georgia’s full, bipartisan congressional delegation sent a letter to President Barack Obama’s Office of Management and Budget requesting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers be allowed to proceed with the project using funds the state already has set aside.
The answer to that request was swift and straight to the point.
No.
“Consistent with longstanding practice that ensures strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars, the executive branch requires congressional authorization of corps projects prior to beginning construction,” OMB director Sylvia Burwell said in a response dated Friday.
“This process is important to maintaining our shared goals of fiscal responsibility and affordability,” Burwell added. “It ensures that … no one project receives special treatment.
“Particularly during fiscally challenging times, it is essential that we do not create special exceptions that could undermine well-established controls of responsible allocation of taxpayer resources and create precedent for wasteful spending.”
Burwell was referencing the Water Resources Development Act, which contains language that would correct an outdated spending cap placed on the Savannah harbor expansion when it was authorized by Congress 15 years ago. The price tag has grown by $193 million since then, and the White House says Congress needs to raise the spending limit before it can approve any construction.
Versions of the measure have been passed by the House and Senate, but the two have not been reconciled.
Burwell’s letter contained no mention of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, also known as the Omnibus spending bill, approved by Congress in January.
That bill, according to U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, both Georgia Republicans, “gave clear direction to the administration to begin construction on the deepening project and to request the necessary funding.”
Deepening the Savannah River harbor is generally considered the most critical current economic development project in Georgia. With the Panama Canal expansion set to open in 2016, Savannah’s harbor deepening project is running out of time in its attempt to get the port ready for the larger container ships expected to call on East Coast ports.
“We’ve really been playing catch-up for the last five years for one reason or the other,” Georgia Ports executive director Curtis Foltz told the Morning News on Wednesday. “We simply can’t afford to wait any longer, so our intention is to move forward with those things we can do.”
The administration supports the project, Burwell said in conclusion of her letter.
“We support your commitment to moving this project forward,” she said, “and believe we can do so while retaining a focus on fiscal responsibility — a goal we both share.”
That response didn’t sit well with Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston.
“I am highly disappointed with the President’s misleading reply to the concerns of the entire Georgia delegation and our constituents,” the Republican senatorial candidate said Monday.
“As the president knows, SHEP was authorized in 1999 and, in a law he signed just last month, Congress made clear that construction should be funded immediately and the White House should stop playing politics with the livelihoods of hard-working Georgians.”