On Feb. 5 the United States House of Representatives passed HR 4031, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act. This bill seeks to increase the GLRI funding back to its original levels of $475 million.
The bill had support from 50 bi-partisan co-sponsors and passed 373-45.
Additionally, 15 Representatives spoke in support of the bill. They included: Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Paul Mitchell (R-MI); Jesus Garcia (D-IL); David Joyce (R-OH); Brian Higgins (D-NY); Bob Gibbs (R-OH); Gwen Moore (D-WI); Jackie Walorski (R-IN); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); Bill Huizenga (R-MI); Debie Dingell (D-MI); Tim Walberg (R-MI); Jan Schakowksy (D-IL); Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH); and Glenn Grothman (R-WI).
You can watch the floor debate here. The GLRI debate starts at 1:57:11.
Trout Unlimited (TU) is excited to see such broad, bi-partisan support for the GLRI and looks forward to the Senate version (S. 2295) passing with similar levels of aisle-spanning support.
With these potential additional funds, Trout Unlimited hopes to expand its ongoing work across the Chequamegon-Nicolet, Ottawa and Huron-Manistee national forests by reconnecting headwater streams plagued by fish passage barriers.