Rep. Marcy Kaptur: “Our new Great Lakes Authority will serve as a powerful catalyst to strengthen America’s heartland and move us ahead for the 21st century.”
There has been loads of excellent news for the Great Lakes in all of the yr finish flurry of laws, and it’s not solely about icebreaking, necessary as that’s. The omnibus appropriations laws now signed into regulation contained an amended model of a invoice launched by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) to create a brand new Great Lakes Authority. Conceived by Rep. Kaptur as a federal authority with a construction and mission just like the Appalachian Regional Commission, the newly established Great Lakes Authority will function as a federal regional fee devoted to figuring out and advancing options to the financial and environmental challenges dealing with the eight states of the Great Lakes area: Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York.
The Great Lakes Authority will likely be empowered to:
- Grow the capability for profitable group financial growth by deploying grants to packages targeted on workforce abilities coaching, employment-related training, entrepreneurship, know-how, and enterprise growth in addition to for transportation, telecommunications, and public infrastructure initiatives
- Promote the event of renewable and various vitality sources in addition to useful resource conservation, tourism, recreation, and preservation of open areas in a way in step with financial growth objectives
- Provide help to severely economically distressed and underdeveloped areas that lack monetary assets for bettering primary healthcare and different public providers
The omnibus appropriations laws authorizes the Great Lakes Authority to obtain – starting in fiscal yr 2024 – the identical funding ranges because the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the Southwest Border Regional Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission. Currently, these three Regional Commissions are every approved to obtain $33 million yearly by way of fiscal yr 2023. The fiscal yr 2024 funding ranges for the three Regional Commissions and the Great Lakes Authority will likely be decided by the 118th Congress.
“The Great Lakes Authority represents a new vision for how to harness existing assets and focus attention and resources to the corner of our nation that makes, builds, and grows America,” stated Rep. Kaptur. “As the home of a highly-skilled workforce, North America’s freshwater kingdom, and a growing, innovative hub of manufacturing, energy, agriculture, and defense – the Great Lakes region is poised and ready to capture the future. Through the collaborative work of Republicans and Democrats, our new Great Lakes Authority will serve as a powerful catalyst to strengthen America’s heartland and move us ahead for the 21st century.”
“Great Lakes ports support this legislation and commend Congresswoman Kaptur for her leadership,” stated American Great Lakes Ports Association Executive Director Steve Fisher. “By creating the Great Lakes Authority, the federal government can now become a partner in the economic restoration of the Great Lakes region.”
The legislative textual content outlining the institution of the Great Lakes Authority will be discovered here.
