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ASCE Ohio Council sends letters of support for GLRI and Infrastructure

 At its spring meeting, the ASCE Ohio Council of Local Sections discussed and overwhelming supported sending letters to Ohio Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown as well as Representative Marcy Kaptur stating that ASCE supports their efforts and recent statements to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  The GLRI was proposed to be cut from the EPA's budget as part of President Trump's budget proposal.  The GRLI was funded for $300/year for 5 years as part of the recently passed WIIN Act of 2016.  Both Senators and the Congresswoman have cited the need for this program to improve water quality for Lake Erie in the wake of the City of Toledo water issues in 2014, as well as keeping the Great Lakes free of invasive species such as the Asian Carp as hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on the Great Lakes and pour billions of dollars in the economy.

As the Council also voted to send support letters to Senators Brown and Portman for increased infrastructure investment.  Senator Brown recently toured the state highlighting projects such as the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati and the Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility in Columbus as projects that could benefit Ohio economically with increased investment.  Senator Brown was a cosponsor of Senate Democrats proposal "A Blueprint to Rebuild America's Infrastructure" which asks for $1Trillion in added investment over the next ten years.  This would be in line with the President's proposal for $1Trillion in investment over the same period.  It has been thought that infrastructure is one area that could receive bipartisan support.

The letters were written and signed by ASCE Ohio Council President Erin Woodson,P.E. and ASCE Ohio Federal Advocacy Captain Jim Pajk, P.E.  You can view the letters in the attachments.

 

AttachmentSize
Senator Portman support letter 2017 Infrastructure.pdf259.92 KB
Senator Brown support letter 2017 Infrastructure.pdf260.08 KB
Rep Kaptur support letter 2017 GLRI.pdf212.16 KB
Senator Brown support letter 2017 GLRI.pdf212.95 KB
Senator Portman support letter 2017 GLRI.docx76.99 KB