Coalition Supports Task Force Push to Boost Great Lakes Funding
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
Contact: Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113
Jordan Lubetkin, Lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589
Coalition Supports Task Force Push to Boost Great Lakes Funding
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (February 1, 2023)—The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is supporting a push by members in the U.S. House of Representatives to boost federal investments to protect and restore the Great Lakes. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), and David Joyce (R-Ohio)—co-chairs of the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force—last week sent a bipartisan letter urging the Biden Administration to request full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $425 million in the president’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, as currently authorized under law.
“We support this increase in Great Lakes investment, which will benefit millions of people in the eight-state region,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Federal Great Lakes restoration investments have been producing results, but serious threats still remain. We need to maintain our commitment to the Great Lakes and clean water—and make sure that we are prioritizing the communities most impacted by pollution and environmental harm. Cutting back federal investment now will only make the problems worse and more expensive to solve. We look forward to working with Congress to continue this important work so that we can provide clean, safe and affordable drinking water to everyone in the region.”
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative invests in projects to restore fish and wildlife habitat, clean up toxic pollution, reduce farm runoff, and manage invasive species.
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition sent a letter to the Biden Administration in the fall urging the Biden Administration to request full funding for the program at $425 million. The White House traditionally releases its budget the first Monday in February; however, the Biden Administration has pegged March 9 as the release date for its proposed fiscal year 2024 budget, which runs Oct. 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 175 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
