Senate Joint Resolution No. 22

Introduced by Senator Hueso

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia)

March 16, 2016

Senate Joint Resolution No. 22—Relative to Calexico West Land Port of Entry project.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 22, as introduced, Hueso. Calexico West Land Port of Entry project: funding.

This measure would respectfully urge Congress to appropriate $248 million in funding to complete Phase 2 of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry reconfiguration and expansion project in order to realize the benefits the improvements of this project will have on the nation’s economy.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The inclusion of $248 million in funding for Phase
2 of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry reconfiguration and
expansion project in the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations bill is proposed by the President’s
Fiscal Year 2017 Budget; and

WHEREAS, This funding will ensure completion of the project,
which will improve domestic supply chains, strengthen our national
security, reduce the Port’s carbon footprint, and facilitate economic
growth, not only for the County of Imperial and California, but
for the entire nation; and

WHEREAS, The Obama Administration’s 2015 budget included
a $98,062,000 investment in Calexico West Land Port of Entry
Phase 1. This first phase of the expansion project is currently
underway and is expected to be completed in 2018. Phase 2 will
consist of the balance of the project, including additional sitework,
an expanded pedestrian processing facility, administrative offices,
and six additional northbound privately owned vehicle inspection
lanes; and

WHEREAS, The completion of this project guarantees the
economic activity of the border will not be lost. On an average
day, more than 11,000 privately operated vehicles and nearly
13,000 pedestrians enter the United States through the Calexico
Land Port of Entry; and

WHEREAS, The United States’ goods and private services trade
with Mexico totaled an estimated $536 billion in 2012, with exports
totaling $243 billion and imports totaling $293 billion; and

WHEREAS, Mexico is currently our third largest goods trading
partner with almost $507 billion in total goods trade during 2013,
with goods exports that totaled $226 billion and goods imports
that totaled $280 billion; and

WHEREAS, Ninety-nine percent of trade between California
and Mexico is carried by trucks; and the Calexico East Port of
Entry serves nearly all of the international truck traffic crossings
in the County of Imperial, with a total trade value of over $12
billion in 2012; and

WHEREAS, The San Diego Association of Governments 2050
Comprehensive Freight Gateway Study projects that the nearly
two million trucks that crossed the California-Mexico border in
2007 will increase to nearly five million trucks in 2050; and

WHEREAS, Traffic congestion and delays at the borders of the
Counties of San Diego and Imperial cost the economies of the
United States and Mexico an estimated $8.63 billion in gross output
and more than 73,900 jobs in 2007; and

WHEREAS, The collaboration between federal, state, and local
agencies is essential for the development of border infrastructure
projects and security; and

WHEREAS, The United States General Accountability Office
and the United States Department of Homeland Security estimate
that $6 billion in border infrastructure is needed to fulfill their
mission of preventing unlawful entry and smuggling while
facilitating legitimate trade and tourism; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
respectfully urges Congress to appropriate $248 million in funding
to complete Phase 2 of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry
reconfiguration and expansion project in order to realize the
benefits the improvements of this project will have on the nation’s
economy; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.