Resolution asks Congress to fully fund Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
LANSING — Today, the Michigan Senate passed Sen. Paul Wojno’s (D-Warren) resolution to ask Congress to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in their 2020 fiscal year budget.
“The investments we have made to protect our Great Lakes should continue, and now is not the time to neglect our state’s most precious resource,” Sen. Wojno said. “I want to thank our congressional delegation for coming together in a bipartisan manner to insist that full funding be maintained in the budget.”
The initial budget proposal out of Washington, D.C. in March had requested funding to the GLRI be cut by $270 million, along with a 31% cut to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget.
The GLRI was launched in 2010 with the help of the EPA. The initiative has invested more than $3 billion into restoring the Great Lakes over the last decade, including $600 million for more than 1,100 projects in Michigan alone.
Research led by the University of Michigan in 2018 has also found that for every $1 invested in cleaning up the Great Lakes, $3.35 of additional economic activity in the Great Lakes region is generated.
In addition to Sen. Wojno’s testimony in the Senate Natural Resources Committee, 29 well-respected organizations submitted cards of support, including: the Clinton River Watershed Council, Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Alliance for the Great Lakes, National Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Sterling Sportsmen’s Club, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Detroit Audobon, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, and the Michigan Environmental Council.
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