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Short Week with Budget Focus for the House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is in session for just three days this week, while the Senate is on recess.
The House will take up the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (SMARTER) Act (H.R. 2745), a bill aiming to eliminate disparities between the two federal antitrust enforcement agencies, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Administration, in how they review mergers and acquisitions. The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 18-10 last fall.
The House Appropriations Committee will continue to host several budget hearings and the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will host an oversight hearing on the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's FY2017 budget proposals.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program,
or Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst,
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Some Appropriations Letters Still Circulating; Others Finalized
Members of the NEMW Congressional Coalition are circulating letters to fellow House members seeking their support for regionally-important programs. These letters, sent to leadership on the Appropriations Committee, communicate support for various programs and/or levels of funding.
Letters currently circulating include:
- Manufacturing Extension Partnership: led by NEMW Coalition Co-Chairs Reps. Mike Kelly (PA-3) and Jim McGovern (MA-2); requests $140.4 million, an increase of $10 million over the FY2016 funding level. Sign-on deadline is March 24.
Finalized letters are listed below and as they are available will be posted
here
on NEMWI's website:
- Community Development Block Grant: led by, among others, NEMW Coalition Members Lou Barletta (PA-11), James McGovern (MA-2), Chaka Fattah (PA-2), and Chris Gibson (NY-19); requests $3.3 billion, a $300 million increase over FY2016 funding.
- Economic Development Administration: led by Reps. Jim McGovern (MA-2) and John Duncan (TN-2); requests $261 million, level with FY2016 funding.
- Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds: led by Reps. Jim McGovern (MA-2), Peter King (NY-2), Dan Kildee (MI-5), and John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13); requests "critical funds."
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: led by Reps. Sander Levin (MI-9), David Joyce (OH-14) and Louise Slaughter (NY-25); requests an increase of $50 million from the President's FY2017 budget request to provide a total of $300 million, level with FY2016 funding.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms: led by Reps. Jim McGovern (MA-2) and Mike Turner (OH-10); requests sustained funding of $13 million for the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms program.
Additionally, the House and Senate Great Lakes Task Forces are circulating letters in support of the programs most essential to the Great Lakes. The House letters are led by Co-Chairs Candice Miller (MI-10), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Sean Duffy (WI-7) and Louise Slaughter (NY-25). The Senate letters are led by Co-Chairs
Mark Kirk (IL) and Debbie Stabenow (MI). Among other things, the letters include:
- Commerce, Justice, and Science: supporting the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Coastal Zone Management Grants, National Sea Grants and the Great Lakes Observatory System.
- Energy and Water: supporting Army Corps programs and projects combating Asian carp and invasive species, navigation maintenance, Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem restoration and other essential functions authorized under the Water Resources and Development Act.
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: supporting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Asian carp and sea lamprey programs, and the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center.
- State and Foreign Operations: supporting the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the International Joint Commission.
- Transportation and Housing & Urban Development: supporting the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program,
or Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst,
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Great Lakes Groups Call on Congress to Take Up GLRI Act
A coalition of Great Lakes advocacy organizations sent a letter to House and Senate leadership calling for them to bring the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act to each chamber's floor for a vote. The letter--which was signed by representatives from the Great Lakes Commission, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, the Council of Great Lakes Industry, and the Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition--calls on Congress to pass this legislation. The GLRI Act (
S. 1024 and
H.R. 223) is sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk (IL) in the Senate and Rep. David Joyce (OH-14) in the House and authorizes the GLRI for five years at $300 million a year. Full text of the letter can be viewed
here.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMW States Expected to Receive $67 Million through National Housing Trust Fund
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave their first contribution ($186 million) to the National Housing Trust Fund this month. The Fund is a new
affordable housing production program designed
to provide
revenue to build, preserve, and rehabilitate housing for people with the lowest incomes.
The Fund was established under the
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
, but is just now getting off the ground. Beginning this summer, Northeast-Midwest (NEMW) states are expected to receive 36% of the $186 million, or $67.4 million. M
ost states will receive the required minimum of $3 million; other states,
such as Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania,
will receive more. More information is available here.
For more information, contact
Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI Seeks Summer Interns
NEMWI seeks candidates for three summer 2016 internships:
- A federal policy monitoring intern will contribute to NEMWI's tracking of regionally-relevant federal legislation and funding.
- A development & communications intern will assist the President & CEO with development and communications activities, such as developing foundation and corporate prospect lists and participating in proposal development and grant report preparation.
- An environmental policy intern will assist in environmental policy and in particular policy research related to water quality monitoring and hydraulic fracturing.
More information on the internships and how to apply is available
here.
For more information, contact
Michael Goff, President & CEO of the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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