Michigan Congressional Delegation Praises Budget Deal
Michigan members of Congress say budget deal averts a government shutdown while funding efforts to help the Great Lakes.
Congress has reached a budget deal that includes funding to help restore the Great Lakes.
The Trump Administration had proposed chopping $50 million from the budget of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, in part to help pay for the border wall the President has vowed to build between the U.S. and Mexico.
But a bipartisan agreement that would fund the federal government through the end of September will instead continue funding the initiative.
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is a co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force.
She said in a statement that funding the initiative is critical for protecting both the waterways and jobs in the Wolverine state.
Other Michigan members of Congress are praising a $2 billion boost to the National Institutes of Health to help fund medical research.
A vote on the bipartisan budget deal will likely be coming soon.
Congress had passed a stop-gap measure to fund the government. But the funding runs out at the end of this week.
Stabenow Statement on Bipartisan Effort to Protect Great Lakes Funding in Fiscal Year 2017 Funding Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, released the following statement on her bipartisan efforts to stop President Trump’s proposed $50 million cut in Great Lakes funding in the Fiscal Year 2017 funding bill:
“I am pleased to have successfully led the bipartisan effort to stop President Trump from cutting $50 million in Great Lakes funding this year. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has always received bipartisan support and is absolutely critical to supporting Michigan jobs and protecting our Great Lakes, including fishing, boating, hunting and stopping invasive species. As Co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, I will continue working with my colleagues across the aisle to make sure President Trump’s plan to completely eliminate Great Lakes funding next year is stopped.”
