Seeking Full Funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of the bipartisan Senate Great Lakes Task Force, last week joined her colleagues in sending a letter to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Chairman Lisa Murkowski and Ranking Member Tom Udall to request at least $320 million in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in Fiscal Year 2021.

GLRI is a results-driven program that is designed to address the most serious issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of the Great Lakes basin, including invasive species, pollution, and toxic contamination.

“As the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies considers FY 2021 appropriations requests, we are requesting no less than $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI),” wrote the senators.

“We are pleased that the Administration agreed to bipartisan requests from Congress to include at least $320 million in its FY 2021 budget request for this important program, which supplies drinking water to millions of people and contributes billions of dollars to the economy each year… We appreciate your past support of the GLRI and look forward to working with you to ensure that the program remains fully funded.”

Full text of the letter is available here