H.R. 8200House119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Interstate Ferry Fairness Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 13, 2026 at 2:14 AM UTC

The Interstate Ferry Fairness Act changes federal ferry funding rules so that privately owned or majority‑privately owned ferries and ferry terminals can receive federal assistance through the Ferry Boat Program. It lets the federal government help build or buy ferries that run between neighboring states, as long as they provide substantial public benefits. The bill also sets limits on the fares these private ferries can charge, ensuring they cover costs and a reasonable return.

Key Provisions

Expands eligibility for the Ferry Boat Program to include privately owned or majority‑privately owned ferries and ferry terminals that serve public roads or connect two adjoining states.
Allows the Secretary of Transportation to determine if a private ferry or terminal provides substantial public benefits before federal funds can be used.
Permits federal participation in constructing or purchasing a ferry boat or terminal that operates between two adjoining states, even if privately owned.
Sets a fare cap for private ferries operating between states: fares may only cover operating costs, debt service, management fees, and a reasonable rate of return approved by the Secretary.
Updates related sections of Title 23 to reflect the new eligibility rules and removes language limiting participation to public entities.
Effective one year after the law is enacted for privately or majority‑privately owned ferries and terminals.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Highways and Transit Subcommittee

April 7, 2026

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

April 6, 2026

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

April 6, 2026

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Highways and Transit Subcommittee

April 7, 2026

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 8200 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Monica De La CruzR-TX-15 · Jul 9, 2026

Under clause 7 of rule XII, sponsors were added to public bills and resolutions, as follows: H.R. 7: Mr. Van Epps. H.R. 138: Ms. Norton, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, and Mr. Calvert. H.R. 491: Ms. Wilson of…

Under clause 7 of rule XII, sponsors were added to public

bills and resolutions, as follows:

H.R. 7: Mr. Van Epps.

H.R. 138: Ms. Norton, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, and Mr. Calvert.

H.R. 491: Ms. Wilson of Florida.

H.R. 516: Mr. Mullin.

H.R. 569: Ms. Fedorchak.

H.R. 614: Mr. Lawler.

H.R. 652: Ms. Moore of Wisconsin.

H.R. 1055: Mr. Costa and Mr. Keating.

H.R. 1065: Ms. Garcia of Texas.

H.R. 1105: Mr. Gallagher.

H.R. 1106: Mr. Riley of New York.

H.R. 1138: Ms. Salazar.

H.R. 1189: Ms. Clarke of New York.

H.R. 1227: Mr. Himes and Mr. Rulli.

H.R. 1229: Mr. Van Epps.

H.R. 1340: Mr. Obernolte.

H.R. 1589: Mr. Pappas.

H.R. 1685: Ms. DelBene.

H.R. 1700: Ms. McCollum.

H.R. 1782: Mr. Case.

H.R. 1787: Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Levin, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Ivey, Mr.

Pocan, and Mr. Menefee.

H.R. 1946: Mr. Higgins of Louisiana.

H.R. 1970: Mr. Van Orden.

H.R. 2002: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

H.R. 2028: Mr. Torres of New York.

H.R. 2089: Mr. Timmons, Mr. Van Epps, Mrs. Fischbach, and

Ms. De La Cruz.

H.R. 2120: Ms. Perez.

H.R. 2245: Mr. Carson.

H.R. 2305: Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania and Mr. Magaziner.

H.R. 2332: Mr. Carey.

H.R. 2350: Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania.

H.R. 2414: Ms. McBride.

H.R. 2509: Mr. Langworthy.

H.R. 2531: Mr. Costa, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Norcross, and Mr.

Van Orden.

H.R. 2587: Mr. Figures.

H.R. 2678: Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mrs. McIver, and Mr.

Conaway.

H.R. 2767: Mr. Lynch.

H.R. 2859: Ms. Ross.

H.R. 2936: Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Carbajal, and Mr. Amo.

H.R. 3045: Mr. Riley of New York and Mr. Whitesides.

H.R. 3057: Mr. Hunt.

H.R. 3105: Mr. Fitzgerald.

H.R. 3111: Mr. Pallone.

H.R. 3184: Mr. Crow and Mrs. Grijalva.

H.R. 3199: Mrs. Kim.

H.R. 3206: Mr. Cuellar.

H.R. 3223: Ms. Perez.

H.R. 3243: Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Casar,

Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Case, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms.

Pettersen, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Meng.

H.R. 3295: Mrs. Kim.

H.R. 3307: Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Mackenzie, and Mr. Buchanan.

H.R. 3310: Mr. Moskowitz.

H.R. 3505: Mr. Amo.

H.R. 3644: Mr. Subramanyam.

H.R. 3821: Mr. Riley of New York.

H.R. 3906: Ms. Williams of Georgia.

H.R. 4092: Mr. Fulcher.

H.R. 4119: Mr. DesJarlais and Mr. Van Epps.

H.R. 4180: Mr. Beyer.

H.R. 4443: Mr. Larson of Connecticut.

H.R. 4487: Ms. Waters.

H.R. 4525: Mr. Deluzio.

H.R. 4620: Ms. De La Cruz.

H.R. 4696: Ms. Crockett and Mr. Torres of New York.

H.R. 4763: Mr. Raskin.

H.R. 4876: Ms. Scholten, Mr. Frost, and Mr. Crow.

H.R. 4881: Mr. Case.

H.R. 4958: Ms. Schrier.

H.R. 5106: Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona.

H.R. 5199: Mr. Nunn of Iowa.

H.R. 5203: Ms. Stansbury.

H.R. 5335: Mr. Gimenez.

H.R. 5448: Mr. McGovern.

H.R. 5463: Mr. Onder.

H.R. 5486: Mr. Pallone and Mrs. Fletcher.

H.R. 5521: Ms. Salinas.

H.R. 5543: Mr. Raskin.

H.R. 5549: Mrs. Spartz and Mr. Fulcher.

H.R. 5731: Mr. Figures.

H.R. 5791: Mr. Carbajal and Ms. Meng.

H.R. 6056: Mr. Correa, Mr. Meeks, and Ms. Williams of

Georgia.

H.R. 6130: Mr. Gray, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Larson of

Connecticut, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Costa, Mr.

Garbarino, Mr. Rouzer, and Ms. McClellan.

H.R. 6181: Mr. Cisneros and Mr. Harder of California.

H.R. 6509: Mr. Mrvan.

H.R. 6520: Mr. Messmer.

H.R. 6529: Mr. Vindman.

H.R. 6574: Ms. Goodlander.

H.R. 6610: Mr. McCormick.

H.R. 6617: Ms. Hoyle of Oregon.

H.R. 6677: Ms. Hoyle of Oregon and Mr. Amo.

H.R. 6682: Mr. Riley of New York.

H.R. 6694: Ms. Velazquez and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

H.R. 6718: Mr. Carson.

H.R. 6766: Mr. Landsman and Mr. Obernolte.

H.R. 6806: Mr. Olszewski and Mr. Amo.

H.R. 6832: Mr. Feenstra.

H.R. 6849: Mr. Costa.

H.R. 7016: Mr. Beyer, Mr. Raskin, and Ms. Simon.

H.R. 7411: Mr. Carson.

H.R. 7539: Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Fine, Mrs. Miller of

Illinois, and Mr. Stauber.

H.R. 7601: Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

H.R. 7622: Mr. Carson and Mr. Amo.

H.R. 7625: Mr. Garamendi.

H.R. 7651: Mr. Alford, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, and Ms.

Boebert.

H.R. 7905: Mr. Bacon.

H.R. 7945: Mr. Kustoff.

H.R. 7961: Ms. Houlahan and Mr. Amo.

H.R. 7977: Mr. Norcross.

H.R. 7986: Ms. Lofgren.

H.R. 7998: Ms. Norton.

H.R. 8016: Ms. Wasserman Schultz.

H.R. 8045: Mr. Scott of Virginia.

H.R. 8073: Mr. Figures.

H.R. 8162: Mr. Lawler.

H.R. 8200: Mr. Bost.

H.R. 8205: Mrs. Miller of West Virginia, Mrs. Hayes, Mr.

Latimer, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Ms. McBride, Mr. Riley

of New York, Mr. Conaway, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Ross, Ms.

Pingree, Mr. Himes, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Casten, Mr.

Landsman, Mrs. Grijalva, Ms. Mejia, Mr. Larson of

Connecticut, Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Peters, Mr. Jackson of

Illinois, Ms. Adams, Ms. Budzinski, Mrs. Beatty, Mr.

Magaziner, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Suozzi,

and Ms. Scanlon.

H.R. 8271: Ms. Tenney.

H.R. 8330: Mr. Gallagher.

H.R. 8373: Mrs. Grijalva.

H.R. 8375: Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Budzinski, and Mr.

Ciscomani.

H.R. 8411: Mr. Johnson of Georgia.

H.R. 8465: Mr. Keating.

H.R. 8468: Mr. Hunt.

H.R. 8490: Mr. Carson.

H.R. 8501: Mr. Figures and Mr. Thompson of California.

H.R. 8600: Mr. Whitesides.

H.R. 8666: Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Friedman, and Mr. Tran.

H.R. 8691: Mr. Carson and Mr. Costa.

H.R. 8730: Mrs. Miller of West Virginia, Ms. Crockett, and

Mr. Mrvan.

H.R. 8839: Mr. Moskowitz.

H.R. 8887: Mr. Neguse.

H.R. 8892: Mr. Carey.

H.R. 8898: Ms. McBride and Mrs. Miller-Meeks.

H.R. 8909: Ms. Velazquez.

H.R. 8939: Ms. Waters.

H.R. 8955: Mr. Crow.

H.R. 8979: Mr. Figures.

H.R. 8982: Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Simon, and Mr. Subramanyam.

H.R. 8990: Mr. Moran.

H.R. 9021: Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Titus, and Mrs. McIver.

H.R. 9032: Ms. Waters and Ms. Crockett.

H.R. 9043: Mr. McDowell.

H.R. 9048: Mr. Riley of New York, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia,

and Mr. Weber of Texas.

H.R. 9129: Ms. Salinas.

H.R. 9169: Mr. Van Drew.

H.R. 9183: Ms. Crockett.

H.R. 9189: Ms. Tlaib.

H.R. 9199: Mr. Norman.

H.R. 9204: Ms. Chu.

H.R. 9205: Ms. Chu.

H.R. 9211: Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Bell.

H.R. 9216: Mr. Cohen and Ms. Waters.

H.R. 9250: Mr. Garbarino, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Moore of West

Virginia, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Harrigan, Mr. Levin,

Mr. Flood, Ms. Chu, Mr. Meuser, and Ms. Crockett.

H.R. 9289: Mr. Vindman.

H.R. 9293: Mr. Evans of Colorado and Mr. Mackenzie.

H.R. 9332: Mr. Vindman.

H.R. 9339: Mr. Vindman.

H.R. 9361: Mr. Finstad and Mr. Jackson of Texas.

H.R. 9370: Ms. Brown and Ms. Scholten.

H.R. 9371: Mr. Frost.

H.R. 9382: Mr. Mannion and Ms. Tenney.

H.R. 9401: Mr. Lawler, Mr. Crow, and Ms. DelBene.

H.R. 9411: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

H.R. 9414: Mr. Vindman, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Keating, and Ms.

McBride.

H.R. 9417: Mr. Moylan, Mr. Haridopolos, Mr. Rogers of

Kentucky, and Mr. McDowell.

H.R. 9421: Ms. Tenney and Mr. Steube.

H.R. 9441: Ms. Dexter and Mr. Tonko.

H.R. 9448: Ms. Ross, Mr. Lieu, and Mr. Nadler.

H.R. 9451: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

H.R. 9492: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

H.R. 9508: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

H.R. 9535: Mr. Van Drew.

H.R. 9580: Mr. Messmer.

H.R. 9591: Ms. Crockett, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms.

Williams of Georgia, Ms. Underwood, Ms. Simon, Ms. Wilson of

Florida, and Ms. Chu.

H.J. Res. 12: Mr. Ciscomani.

H.J. Res. 135: Mr. Whitesides.

H.J. Res. 200: Mr. Menendez and Mr. Pallone.

H. Con. Res. 37: Mr. Tonko, Ms. Bonamici, and Mrs. Foushee.

H. Con. Res. 44: Ms. Pingree, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr.

Vargas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, and Mr.

Pocan.

H. Res. 547: Ms. Waters.

H. Res. 1025: Ms. Waters.

H. Res. 1382: Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina.

H. Res. 1384: Mr. Bell, Ms. Brown, Mr. Garcia of Illinois,

Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Norton, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Goldman of New

York, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Davis of

Illinois, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Mejia, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Takano,

Mr. Menefee, Ms. Salinas, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cohen,

and Mr. Gomez.

H. Res. 1395: Mr. Fields.

H. Res. 1415: Mr. DeSaulnier and Ms. Jayapal.

H. Res. 1420: Ms. Underwood and Ms. Bynum.

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued April 6, 2026

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 8200

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 6, 2026

Mr. LaLota (for himself and Mr. Courtney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, so that a privately or majority-privately owned ferry or ferry terminal facility is an eligible entity for purposes of participation in the Ferry Boat Program, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Interstate Ferry Fairness Act.

Amendment to allow privately owned ferries and ferry terminal facilities to be eligible for Ferry Boat Program

(a)

Permissibility of Federal participation in construction of privately owned ferries or ferry terminal facilities

Section 129(c) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (2)—

(A)

by inserting (A) before The operation; and

(B)

by striking on a route and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting

on a route—

(i)

classified as a public road within the State and which has not been designated as a route on the Interstate System or on a public transit ferry eligible under chapter 53 of title 49; or

(ii)

between 2 adjoining States and that connects one or more public roads.

(B)

Projects under this subsection may be eligible for both ferry boats carrying cars and passengers and ferry boats carrying passengers only.

;

(2)

in paragraph (3)—

(A)

in subparagraph (A), by striking shall be and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting

shall be—

(i)

publicly owned or operated;

(ii)

majority publicly owned, if the Secretary determines with respect to such majority publicly owned ferry or ferry terminal facility that the ferry boat or ferry terminal facility provides substantial public benefits; or

(iii)

with respect to a ferry that operates between 2 adjoining States or a ferry terminal facility that supports such a ferry, privately owned or majority privately owned, if the Secretary determines with respect to such ferry or ferry terminal facility that the ferry boat or ferry terminal facility provides substantial public benefits or otherwise meets the foremost needs of the surface transportation system described in section 101(b)(3)(D).

; and

(B)

in subparagraph (B)—

(i)

by striking Any Federal participation and inserting (i) Except as provided in clause (ii), any Federal participation; and

(ii)

by adding at the end the following new clause:

(ii)

Federal participation may involve the construction or purchase, for private ownership, of—

(I)

a ferry boat that operates between 2 adjoining States; or

(II)

a ferry terminal facility or any other eligible project under this section that supports such ferry boat.

; and

(3)

in paragraph (4)—

(A)

by inserting (A) before The operating authority;

(B)

by striking such ferry and inserting a publicly owned or a majority publicly owned ferry;

(C)

by striking a privately operated toll ferry and inserting a privately operated toll ferry not subject to subparagraph (B); and

(D)

by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

(B)

A privately owned or majority privately owned ferry operating between 2 adjoining States may charge a fare for passage on such ferry in an amount not more than the sum of an amount necessary to produce revenues sufficient to cover actual and necessary costs of operation, maintenance, repair, debt service, negotiated management fees, plus an amount that the Secretary determines is a reasonable rate of return for the ferry. All revenues derived therefrom shall be applied to such actual and necessary costs, except the ferry may retain the amount that the Secretary determines is a reasonable rate of return.

(b)

Conforming amendments

(1)

Surface transportation block grant program

Section 133(b)(1)(B) of title 23, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

(B)

ferry boats and terminal facilities that are eligible for funding under section 129(c);

(2)

Construction of ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities

Section 147(c) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking public entities and inserting entities.

(c)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall take affect with respect to a privately owned, or majority privately owned, ferry or ferry terminal facility for purposes of eligibility of the program under section 147 of title 23, United States Code, on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.