Maritime Legislation Monitor

The flagship maritime-revitalization bill (Sen. Mark Kelly, D-AZ). Creates a national maritime strategy and a dedicated Maritime Security Trust Fund, targets adding 250 U.S.-flagged international ships over 10 years, rebuilds the shipyard industrial base, and expands the mariner and shipyard workforce (including U.S. Merchant Marine Academy provisions). The 341-page Senate text builds a full "top-of-the-funnel" workforce architecture: it directs designated maritime Centers of Excellence to engage students in kindergarten through grade 12 (Sec. 617), and stands up a Maritime Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee (Sec. 613) that recommends standardized curricula made publicly available to high schools and technical schools, with required seats for K-12 maritime education programs and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Broad bipartisan backing — including the Armed Services and Appropriations chairs — but no markup in either chamber since its April 2025 referral.

House companion to S. 1541 (Rep. Trent Kelly, R-MS, with Rep. John Garamendi, D-CA). Multi-committee referral; sent to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation. Large bipartisan cosponsor list but no markup yet.

The tax vehicle paired with the SHIPS package: a 33% credit for building or repowering U.S.-flagged oceangoing commercial vessels and a 25% credit for investment in domestic shipyard facilities. Held in Finance pending action on S. 1541.

The House's five-year surface transportation reauthorization (Chairman Sam Graves, R-MO), authorizing roughly $580B for FY2027–2031. Tracked here for its port-relevant Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant (STAG) program (§1124, new 23 U.S.C. 173): $2.4B/yr from the Highway Trust Fund split 25% rural / 25% urban / 50% local-and-regional, with inland-port and land-port-of-entry eligibility, port authorities as eligible entities, non-federal-share stacking with TIFIA/RRIF, and a $25M per-project cap. The T&I Committee approved the bill 62–2 on 22 May 2026 via an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute plus the Chairman's Manager's Amendment; STAG's port-eligibility language survived markup intact, an adopted Figures amendment prioritizes road-access grants supporting America's Maritime Action Plan (50–12), and the §1118 repeal of the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Program stands. No House floor vote yet; the Senate has not produced its reauthorization; IIJA authorities expire 30 Sep 2026.

Sponsored by T&I Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), the House passed H.R. 4275 on 23 Jul 2025 by 399–12 (Roll 218); the reconciled Coast Guard Authorization Act was enacted as Division G of the FY2026 NDAA (P.L. 119-60). Reauthorizes the Coast Guard and carries maritime and vessel provisions.

The enacted FY2026 defense authorization — the year's main maritime vehicle. Authorizes $26B+ for naval shipbuilding and roughly $1.1B for the Maritime Administration, carries the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 (Division G), and adds maritime-industrial-base workforce authorities plus an automated-shipbuilding pilot.

Reconciliation law carrying the single largest recent maritime appropriation: roughly $4.3B for up to three heavy Polar Security Cutters, $3.5B for three Arctic Security Cutters, $186M for light/medium icebreakers, and about $4.4B for Coast Guard shoreside facilities.

Would repeal the Jones Act's U.S.-built, -owned, -crewed, and -flagged requirements for coastwise trade (Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT; Rep. Tom McClintock, R-CA). Limited cosponsor support and no action beyond referral — tracked as the counter-current to the SHIPS package.

Directs a comprehensive Campus Modernization Plan for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. Referred to House Armed Services; a standalone workforce-and-facilities measure alongside the broader mariner provisions in the SHIPS Act.