News from Northeast-Midwest Institute

W E E K L Y U P D A T E April 30 , 2018

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Great Lakes Senators Call for Full Funding of GLRI

A bipartisan group of Great Lakes Senators, led by the Senate Great Lakes Task Force (GLTF) Co-Chairs, Senators Debbie Stabenow (MI) and Rob Portman (OH), sent a letter last week to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment calling for $300 million to be included in the FY19 Interior appropriations bill for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The GLRI, which was authorized by Congress in 2016 at $300 million a year over five years, has provided $1.6 billion since 2010 to support more than 3,000 projects throughout the region aimed at protecting the Great Lakes.

Additional Senators signed onto the letter included GLTF Vice-Chair Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Great Lakes Senators Tammy Baldwin (WI), Sherrod Brown (OH), Bob Casey (PA) Joe Donnelly (IN), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Dick Durbin (IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Gary Peters (MI), and Tina Smith (MN). A copy of the letter can be viewed here .

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program, at mmckenna@nemw.org

NEMWI to Host a Briefing on

Asian Carp and the Great Lakes

The Northeast-Midwest Institute will hold a briefing on Monday, May 21, from 1 to 2 pm, on the current efforts to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The briefing will focus on strategic initiatives being developed and deployed by the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) to prevent the introduction and establishment of Asian carp. The ACRCC is a partnership among 27 U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, and local agencies and organizations focused on collaborating with one another in order to best share resources, research, and information to thwart the movement of Asian carp toward the Great Lakes.

When: Monday, May 21, from 1 - 2 pm

Where: 2168 Rayburn (Gold Room)

Participants at the briefing will include:

· U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (ACRCC Co-Chair)

· U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (ACRCC Co-Chair)

· U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

· U.S. Geological Survey

· Illinois Department of Natural Resources

To RSVP, please email events@nemw.org

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program, at mmckenna@nemw.org

THIS WEEK ON CAPITOL HILL

Both the House and the Senate are on a week-long recess, returning to Washington on May 7 ^th . The House Appropriations Committee already has announced that the Subcommittee on Energy and Water will markup its FY19 appropriations bill on Monday, May 7 at 5:30 pm. More details can be found here .

If you have any questions, please contact the NEMWI at staff@nemw.org

NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation