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Lawmakers Release FY2016 Omnibus: Includes GLRI Authorization and Much More
On December 15, 2015, Congress unveiled a massive omnibus appropriations bill that would keep the government funded through September 30, 2016. The House is expected to take up the bill on Friday, and the Senate shortly thereafter. The bill provides for a total of $1.149 trillion in total spending, of which $548 billion is dedicated to defense activities and $518 billion is focused on non-defense, domestic spending. Along with the annual 12 appropriations bills are a number of other policy issues, including the authorization of bills shaping the nation's intelligence and cybersecurity policies, the extension of expiring energy tax breaks, and the lifting of a decades' old ban on the exportation of domestic oil, among other things. Of particular note for the region is the one-year authorization of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The NEMWI put together a fact sheet highlighting some of the funding levels and provisions that would have the greatest impact on the Northeast-Midwest region.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
,Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program,
or Colleen Cain, Policy Analyst,
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute,
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Microbead-Free Waters Act Passes House and Heads to Senate
The House of Representatives passed
H.R. 1321 (the Microbead-Free
Waters Act of 2015)
by voice vote on December 7, 2015.
The bill requires the manufacturing of plastic microbeads to stop by July 1, 2017, and the delivery of new cosmetic products containing microbeads to end by July 1, 2018. Microbeads have been found in rivers and lakes in developed areas around the world, raising environmental degradation concerns among scientists and environmental organizations. The bill now heads to the Senate, where proponents continue to work to pass the bill and send it to the President for his signature.
For more information, contact
Mark Gorman
, Policy Analyst, or Matt McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI Welcomes New Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program
NEMWI welcomes Matthew McKenna as the Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program. He comes to the Institute from Dykema, a national law firm headquartered in Michigan, where he served for nine years as a Government Policy Specialist. At Dykema, he was part of the federal government relations practice group and focused on legislative research, analysis and outreach for clients that included local governments, nonprofits, hospitals and universities. Prior to that, Matthew worked on Capitol Hill as a staff member in the office of Congressman Anthony D. Weiner and interned in the office of Senator Charles E. Schumer. He is a graduate of The George Washington University and hails from the State of New York.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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