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Portman, Brown Announce Full Funding for Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
announced full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in the final FY 2018
appropriations bill Congress is expected to pass this week.
Last year, the president proposed eliminating GLRI and the
senators worked together to ensure it was fully funded in
this appropriations bill for the rest of the fiscal year.
President Trump’s most recent budget proposed cutting GLRI
by 90 percent. The Obama administration also proposed cuts
to the program. The package Congress is expected to vote on
this week will ensure GLRI is fully funded through the end
of the fiscal year.
“The Great Lakes are an invaluable resource to Ohio, and the
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been a successful
public-private partnership that helps protect both our
environment and our economy,”said Portman. “I am pleased
that the final bipartisan funding agreement fully funds this
critical program, and I will continue to work Senator Brown
to protect and preserve Lake Erie and all the Great Lakes.”
“Efforts to slash funding for GLRI were met again with
fierce opposition from all the Ohioans who rely on Lake Erie
for a job, a source of water or a place to be outside with
their families,” said Brown. “I’m glad to continue working
with Senator Portman to ensure GLRI has its full strength as
communities continue their important work to keep Lake Erie
clean.”
Portman and Brown have worked to strengthen the GLRI – a
highly successful program that has targeted the most
significant problems in the region and jumpstarted
restoration efforts to protect, maintain, and restore the
chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great
Lakes. Last year, the two helped ensure that the measure
included $300 million for GLRI for the remainder of the
fiscal year, battling back reported attempts to cut the GLRI.
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