GLIN==> Coalition: Senate's Failure to Pass Budget Cannot be Final Word on Great Lakes Restoration, Economic Recovery

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition

Coalition: Senate's Failure to Pass Budget Cannot be Final Word on Great Lakes Restoration, Economic Recovery

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (December 17, 2010) - U.S. Senate Democrats announced today that they would not be able to pass a comprehensive funding bill this year and will instead pass a continuing resolution to fund the government until the new Congress convenes in January.

The failure of Congress to pass a budget leaves unanswered the future of funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-a popular program backed by business and industry, mayors, governors and conservation groups. The initiative supports successful programs to combat invasive species, clean up toxic sediments, and reduce polluted run-off from cities and farms.

Last year Congress appropriated $475 million for the program.

The collapse of budget talks comes only a week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget through September 30, 2011 that invests $322 million in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  The bill introduced in the Senate this week equaled the President's budget request funding the GLRI at $300 million.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative's vast support from business and environmental groups in the eight states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin stems in part from the growing national awareness that Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery go hand-in-hand.

The Brookings Institution found that every $1 investment in Great Lakes restoration leads to at least $2 in economic benefit.

The initiative also has bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill. Reps. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), and Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), among many others, have championed the initiative all year.

Commenting on the Senate budget impasse, Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:

"Even though they tried, the Senate's failure to pass a budget is a big disappointment-we cannot let this be the final word.

"Millions of people, businesses, and communities are counting on the U.S. Congress to roll up their sleeves and pass a budget that creates jobs, protects communities and restores the largest source of surface freshwater in the word-the Great Lakes.

"That includes at a minimum the Senate's funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

"Great Lakes restoration is a non-partisan issue that is defined by the urgent need to act now. Delay or inaction will only allow the problems to get worse and more expensive to solve.

"In January, we look forward to working with congressional Democrats and Republicans and the Obama Administration to pass a budget that funds successful Great Lakes restoration programs that create jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity."

For Immediate Release:
December 17, 2010

Contact:
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (410) 245-8021
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (734) 904-1589

Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation
Great Lakes Regional Center
Office: 734-887-7109
Cell: 734-904-1589

www.nwf.org/greatlakes
www.healthylakes.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/glin-announce/attachments/20101217/cfdd6018/attachment.html