The US Senate Committee charged with marking up the President’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative approved it yesterday providing $400 million for the initiative. The US House Appropriations Committee approved $475 million last week.

The $400 million is a huge victory because it represents the most that the US Senate panel could give toward the initiative as they have a smaller amount to spend on the committees programs.

Interior Appropriations chairman Diane Feinstein (D-CA) told Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) that she will support full funding during the conference negotiations. Sen. Levin has been working behind the scenes to ensure that the Senate Committee put as much money as possible into the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The full Senate appropriations committee will consider the bill Thursday afternoon. The US House is expected to vote on the House version for $475 million this week. Then the full US Senate is expected to vote on the Senate version sometime soon after the Fourth of July break.

So far, so good. Keep up the great work!

Related posts:

• Tell Senators to Fully Fund Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
• US Senate Gives Thumbs Up To GLRI
• They Did It! Obama’s Restoration Initiative Gets Thumbs Up
• House Approves $475M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
• Tell the U.S. Senate to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $300 million in the 2011 budget