(January 17, 2001) Noting the importance of a modernized waterway transportation system, port authority officials asked a House committee for additional development funds.

The House Transportation Finance Committee heard testimony from Lorrie Louder, director of industrial development for the St. Paul Port Authority, who underscored the importance of previous state funding. She said, for example, that monies had funded emergency repairs on a roof, and had thereby prevented a potentially disastrous calamity.

Her testimony was supported by Steve King, manager for ports and waterways at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, who emphasized the importance of Minnesota's ports to the state and national economies. "Five percent of the nation's grain moves through the Port of Savage," he said, referring to the Twin Cities suburb on the Minnesota River.

According to the National Corn Growers Association, the upper Midwest benefits from more than $12 billion added to the region's economy as a result of river transportation.

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