WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump released some details of his 2020 budget Monday. Included in the proposal, the budget calls for spending $30 million on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
That is a 90 percent cut from the $300 million the program has received most years since it started in 2010.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was created to remove toxic pollution, fight invasive species and deal with other environmental problems in the eight-state region.
The president has tried to cut the budget for the Great Lakes program for three years in a row.
Michigan lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticized the president's proposal to slash funding for the Great Lakes cleanup program.
Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (St. Joseph) said in part, "We have fought tooth and nail to stop these cuts before. You can expect a strong, bipartisan, Michigan-led effort to once again protect every penny of this critical program, and we will prevail. Putting funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative on the chopping block is a terrible idea and will not stand.”
U.S. Rep Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) also weighed in on the proposal.
"It is vital that protecting and preserving the Great Lakes remains a national priority. While there are several improvements in the President’s budget proposal from last year, it fails to properly fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative," Huizenga said in a statement that also said he will work with Republicans and Democrats to fully fund the GLRI.
Both Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) and Gary Peters (D-Mich) also responded to the budget proposal.
"Donald Trump’s Great Lake funding cuts are as reliable (and unwelcome) a Michigan spring tradition as an April snowstorm," Stabenow said. "Every time he’s tried this before, we’ve come together and restored every penny. It’s ridiculous he still hasn’t gotten the message, but we’ve got to keep the pressure on while we still have time."
Peters said in his statement that the Great Lakes provide funding for over 40 million people in addition to being a strong economic force for the region. "The Administration’s proposal to nearly eliminate funding for the GLRI would severely hurt our ability to clean, preserve and restore our waterways," he said.
Trump's budget proposal also listed a 90 percent cut to cleanup efforts in the Chesapeake Bay and it would completely eliminate restoration funding for the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, South Florida, San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound.
When the president sought similar cutbacks in previous fiscal proposals, Congress rejected them.
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
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