The Budget and the Region --
Reports
The Northeast-Midwest
organizations on Monday, February 5, will produce information about
the president’s fiscal 2008 budget proposals for selected programs
of regional interest.
Northeast-Midwest staff will compile a table with
program-specific budget numbers and circulate it by noon on budget day to paying
members of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional and Senate Coalitions
and officials from states that financially support the
Northeast-Midwest Institute.
Later that afternoon, staff will circulate a document that
also includes program information and historical funding data on
selected programs. Contacts: Matt Kane at the Northeast-Midwest
Institute (612/825-0443), Katie Waszkiewicz
at the Congressional Coalition (202/226-5181), and Ari Strauss at the
Senate Coalition (202/224-0606).
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) --
Letter
The Senate Great Lakes
Task Force is circulating a letter to the Senate Agriculture
Committee requesting an oversight hearing on Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service’s (APHIS’s) order on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia
(VHS). VHS causes internal hemorrhaging and has a high
mortality in certain species of fish. The task force has
concerns about the manner in which APHIS acted, the process that
APHIS used to communicate, and the future process for completing a
final rule. The last day for senators to sign onto the letter
is Monday, February
5. Contact: Joy Mulinex at the
Great
Lakes Task Force
(202/224-1211).
Sustainable Development in the
Great Lakes Basin – Conference
A
Chicago conference on February
8 and 9 will explore opportunities for Canada-U.S. partnership
within the overall theme of sustainable development. The meeting will focus on
four priority areas:
economic innovative and prosperity, environment and energy,
statistics, and infrastructure (both physical and legislative). The conference is sponsored
by the Canadian Consulate General, Northeast-Midwest Institute,
Great Lakes National Program Office, Great Lakes Fisheries
Commission, Brookings Institution, and Pollution Probe.
Corps of Engineers Funding –
Letter
The Senate Great Lakes
Task Force is circulating a letter to the Senate authorizers and
appropriators of the Corps about the inequity in funding
levels. The Great
Lakes have been receiving an
inequitable share of the Corps’ operations and maintenance funding,
and there is a backlog of work to be done. The last day for
senators to sign onto this letter is Wednesday, Feb. 7.
Contact: Joy Mulinex
at the Great
Lakes Task Force
(202/224-1211).
Administration’s Farm Bill Proposal –
Summary Report
Click
here to read the Northeast-Midwest Institute’s summary of USDA’s
2007 farm bill proposal.
Contact: Alan Hunt with the
Northeast-Midwest Institute (202/464-4016).
