The USSA has formed a strategic partnership with the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) to continue to work to grow the superyacht industry in the United States.
“Our associations share a synergistic vision of our future in both the commercial and recreational sides by utilizing our individual organizational strengths,” said USSA chair Kate Pearson. “We are excited to have such a team of talented professionals with an incredible network in Washington, D.C. that are dedicated to working with the USSA to help us accomplish our advocacy efforts,” she continued. “There are so many areas of crossover in our mutual industries that this partnership will benefit us all and we look forward to a lot more good news to share.”
See what’s happening in Washington, D.C. now….
D.C. Update
Congressional Leaders and White House Agree to Two Year Budget Deal
Congressional leaders and the White House agreed this week to a comprehensive two-year budget agreement that would prevent another government shutdown, suspend the debt limit and increase government spending. The House approved the deal on Thursday.
The agreement, negotiated between congressional leaders and the Trump administration, represents a significant bipartisan compromise. While it is facing pushback from some conservatives, it appears to be on track to pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by President Donald Trump. It will next go to the Senate, where it is expected to get a vote sometime next week.
The deal suspends the debt limit through July 2021 and sets top-line levels for defense and nondefense spending for the next two fiscal years. It establishes a $1.37 trillion budget agreement in the first year, with $738 billion for defense spending and $632 billion in nondefense spending for fiscal year 2020. If the two parties had not struck a deal, $126 billion in sequestration cuts would set in come January, ravaging every discretionary account in the federal government.
Congress will still need to scramble in September to pass spending bills adhering to the new limits imposed by the agreement before the fiscal year ends on September 30th. Of course, until the agreement is signed into law, it’s not a done deal. Ahead of the last partial government shutdown, the President appeared on track to back a spending deal only to later reject it amid a fight for funding over his long-promised border wall.
Since the deal is a compromise, neither Democrats nor Republicans view it as ideal and there has been pushback from some factions on Capitol Hill, but so far that does not seem like it will be enough to prevent the measure from passing both chambers of Congress and being signed by Trump.
Once the bill is signed into law, the country’s biggest budget questions will be answered until well past the election, allowing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to fundraise and campaign next year without getting stuck in Washington or tarring their reputations before voters go to the polls to pick a president and decide who in Congress gets to stick around.
President Trump Backs Off Jones Act Waiver
In May, the President pledged he wouldn’t waive requirements that American vessels be used to transport natural gas among U.S. ports. The president had been considering waiving the law after requests from Puerto Rico and pressure from oil industry leaders. However, key Congressional leaders, including Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) argued that the Jones Act provides critical support to the U.S. shipbuilding industry, promoting domestic vessel manufacturing capabilities that are essential to national security and the country’s maritime might. Additionally, they argued that waiving the Jones Act would be out of step with Trump’s “Buy America, Hire America” policies.
Maritime Industries Relief Act of 2019
Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL-18) introduced a bill earlier this year titled the Maritime Industries Relief Act of 2019. The legislation would allow any dutiable vessel meeting the definition of a used yacht to be sold duty-free in United States territory. The Bill (H.R. 2725) has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Coalition Efforts
About the Shipbuilders Council of America
The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) is the national trade association representing the U.S shipyard industry. The Shipbuilders Council of America represents hundreds of companies that own and operate shipyards across the United States, including facilities on all three U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waterways system, Alaska and Hawaii. SCA also represents the supplier and partner members that provide critical goods and services to the U.S. shipyard industry. SCA routinely advocates for industry by educating Congressional leaders, key Administration officials, including the Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and Maritime Administration, on critical issues before the shipyard industrial base.
The USSA and SCA recognize the significant overlap of issues between the two organizations and have partnered to provide better insight into the other’s industrial sector.
Shipbuilders Council Workforce Development Committee
In the last several years, the SCA has focused on workforce development issues facing the shipyard industry and has worked to educate Members of Congress and the Administration on the importance of supporting efforts to educate and train the next generation of shipyard workers. To that end, SCA has formed a Workforce Development Committee that is comprised of both shipyards and supplier companies to identify critical needs in the workforce and how our government partners, including the Navy, can support both workforce generation and utilization efforts. Key issues identified include:
- Creation and implementation of national accreditation standards
- Recruitment and retention of veterans
- Stability and predictability of future shipbuilding and repair programs
- Worksite accessibility
- Establishing shipbuilding and maritime as an “employment destination”
Government programs identified to support these workforce initiatives include:
MARAD: Small Shipyard Grants
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) provides funding each year for shipyards in the form of Small Shipyard Grants. The Small Shipyard Grant Program is designed to support small shipyard projects that make capital and related improvements or provide training for workers in shipbuilding, ship repair, and associated industries. Grants are capped at 75 percent of the project’s estimated cost and are available to facilities with fewer than 1,200 production employees. In FY19 alone, $20,000,000 was appropriated to the Small Shipyard Grant Program.
DOL – OSHA: Susan Harwood Training Grants
OSHA awards grants to nonprofit organizations on a competitive basis through its Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. Grants are awarded to provide training and education programs for employers and workers on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces. The types of grants solicited each year vary. Grants solicited in the past include Capacity Building grants, Targeted Topic, and Training Materials Development.
DOL- ETA:
Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap – FOA-ETA-19-09
The purpose of this grant program is to promote apprenticeships as a significant workforce solution in filling current job vacancies and closing the skills gap between employer workforce needs and the skills of the current workforce. Grant funds will be awarded to an apprenticeship partnership of public and private sector entities which together seek to develop and implement new apprenticeship models; or expand an existing apprenticeship program to a new industry sector or occupation, a new population, on a local/regional, statewide, or national scale.