In July, both the House and Senate passed Continuing Resolutions (CR) to keep the government open into December, past the mid-term elections. The bills have slight differences, but since the Senate passed their version last, we expect that the House will vote on the Senate version when they return from recess. If the House votes to pass the Senate version in early September, the joint CR will proceed to the President for his signature and there is a good chance that the government will not shut down on September 30th.

While it is good news that the government would remain open under a CR, the Senate version only extends federal funding until December 11th. Therefore, the agencies would only be funded for the next four months and thus be limited by the amount of work they are able to complete or initiate. 

In addition, federal agencies would be funded based on the level of funding they received in the current fiscal year (FY26) with no additional earmark funding from the House and Senate. This is good news for the waterway when considering that we received $42.433 million in FY26 compared with $32.825 million in the President’s budget for FY27. However, we could receive over $55 million in funding for FY27 depending on which earmarks get approved in the final appropriations bill.

Looking forward, we are hopeful that the Senate CR will be passed by the House and signed by the President while awaiting further action on FY27 appropriations bills. We will work to secure the earmarks that have been requested by our House and Senate representatives for FY27.
 

We have a number of success stories to share and upcoming projects to discuss as a part of our program, along with a range of topics of interest to all waterway stakeholders.

Invitations are being extended to our federal partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA, and the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. We will have presentations on navigation successes along the waterway, and you can expect an update on activities and what to expect in Washington, D.C. In addition, we will be the kickoff to the Florida Inland Navigation District’s 100th year in 2027.

If you have ideas for presentations or speakers who would be great additions to our program, please contact us at brad.pickel@atlanticintracoastal.net.

Learn more on the annual meeting webpage to access registration and sponsorship opportunities.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the Dune House located at 1 Ocean Boulevard, Atlantic Beach, Florida. A limited number of rooms are available at the group rate of $294 per night (inclusive of all taxes and fees) until October 19th. 

We look forward to seeing you this November!

While these issues do not directly impact the operations and maintenance of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, we support our partners in the efforts to change the current Administrative policies. We encourage you to read the position statement by the American Waterways Operators in regard to the recent extension of the Jones Act waivers; and the recent Op-Ed by David Kennedy, AIWA Board Chair and Government Affairs manager at Boat US regarding the E15 decision by EPA.