California Governor Newsom proposes $2.3 billion for California ports and congestion reduction

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing $2.3 billion in state funding to help ease congestion and supply chain problems that continue to impact the California Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.

In a January 10th news release, the California Governor “proposed allocating $2.3 billion for supply chain investments in the new state budget. The funds will help address congestion and bottlenecks across the West Coast. “

California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA) president and executive director for the Port of Oakland Danny Wan was quoted stating:

“I applaud Governor Newsom for his leadership and continued support of California ports. Our state’s ports can play a critical role in fixing America’s broken supply chain. We must take a holistic approach that incorporates a reinvestment in infrastructure, technology and data-driven methods that will help get goods moving. This budget proposal reflects a historic commitment to California’s ports.”

The Governor’s news release noted that federal funding has largely bypassed California ports who have been struggling with congestion issues for more than 18 months:

”Over the past decade, the federal government has invested roughly $11 billion in the eastern Gulf coast ports, but only $1 billion in the West Coast ports. Consequently, California ports struggled to keep up with rising demand.”

The proposed investments in the supply for the 2022-23 fiscal year include:

• Port Infrastructure and Goods Movement: $1.2 billion for port-related high-priority projects that increase goods movement capacity on rail and roadways serving ports and at port terminals, including railyard expansions, new bridges, and zero-emission modernization projects.
  
• Zero-Emission Equipment and Infrastructure: $875 million for zero-emission port equipment, short-haul (drayage) trucks, and infrastructure.
  
• Workforce Training: $110 million for a training campus, to support workforce resilience in the face of supply chain disruption and accelerate the deployment of zero emission equipment and technologies.
  
• Commercial Driver’s Licenses: $40 million to enhance California’s capacity to issue Commercial Driver’s Licenses.
  
• Operational and Process Improvements: $30 million for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to provide funding for operational and process improvements at the ports. This could include enhancing the movement of goods and improving data interconnectivity.