WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that he was able to secure an amendment to a Senate spending bill to increase funds for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) by $9 million, bringing the total funds to $310 million. Brown has long fought to secure full Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding. GLRI is a highly successful program that has jumpstarted restoration efforts to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes, like Lake Erie, and its tributaries.

“Lake Erie is one of Ohio’s most important natural resources and we must do all we can to keep it healthy for businesses, families, boaters, and anglers that rely on the lake,” said Brown. “We do that by ensuring the GLRI is operating at its full strength so communities can continue the necessary work to  keep Lake Erie clean today and for the next generation.”

Brown fought for and secured full funding for the GLRI program last year, putting the funding at $300 million. In Fiscal Year 2018, the President proposed eliminating GLRI and Senators Brown and Portman worked together to ensure it was not only reinstated but also fully funded in the two most recent appropriation bills.

In July, Brown joined a group of bicameral lawmakers in introducing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act of 2019, legislation that would reauthorize the GLRI for another five years and increase authorized funding for the program from $300 million annually to $475 million annually by fiscal year 2026.

In December, President Trump signed the final 2018 Farm Bill into law, which includes several provisions Brown fought to include to protect Lake Erie and Ohio waterways. The final bill included provisions from Brown’s bipartisan Give Our Resources the Opportunity to Work (GROW) Act, which will better utilize existing federal water programs to protect waterways and expand access to quality farmland.  

###