SAIPAN – Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds said the federal transportation bill heading to markup Friday includes a major increase in ferry and multimodal funding and explicit eligibility language for the territories, in a video update to constituents Thursday.
Annual funding for certain ferry and multimodal transportation programs would rise from about $1.6 million to approximately $9.8 million under the bill, King-Hinds said. For the CNMI, that money could potentially support inter-island ferry infrastructure, terminal modernization, cargo facility upgrades, port access improvements and supply chain resilience, she said.
The bill also writes the CNMI, American Samoa, Guam and other territories into the eligibility language for federal transportation grants, King-Hinds said, addressing a recurring problem where the islands have been told they do not qualify because federal law does not explicitly include them.
“Words matter in federal law,” King-Hinds said. “Sometimes we get accidentally boxed out of programs simply because nobody specifically included us in the language.”
King-Hinds said the bill also includes funding that could support better lighting, safer school zones, pedestrian safety and road sign replacement, much of which is needed in the wake of recent storm damage. The legislation includes provisions intended to speed up federal project delivery for smaller governments, which she said often face capacity constraints in engineering, grant writing and technical support.
She also said the bill encourages building back smarter rather than rebuilding the same infrastructure that fails in successive storms.
Friday’s committee markup is one step in a long process, King-Hinds said. If the bill passes committee, it heads to the full House. The Senate would then need to pass its own version, and both chambers would have to negotiate a final bill before it could become law.
The update was the second part of a video message from the congresswoman this week, separate from her ongoing work on Typhoon Sinlaku relief and the fuel situation. She said she would keep the community updated on the markup outcome.