| Northeast-Midwest Institute Weekly Update |
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Great Lakes Task Forces Send Letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army
| The bipartisan Senate and House Great Lakes Task Forces sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo Ellen Darcy regarding physical separation of the Chicago Waterway System. Senator Carl Levin, Congresswoman Candice Miller, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Congressman Sean Duffy, and Congressman John Dingell--all Great Lakes Task Force co-chairs--and 26 other members of the Great Lakes Congressional delegation signed the letter. The Great Lakes Task Forces sent the letter in response to the report, Restoring the Natural Divide, released on January 31, 2012 by the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities and Town Initiatives. The report analyzes various engineering options to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins in the Chicago Area Waterway System to prevent harmful aquatic invasive species, including Asian carp, from moving between the two basins. The Great Lakes Task Forces letter specifically asks the Corps how it will use the analysis and if it can shorten the timeframe for completing its Congressionally-authorized Corps report, Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS), in light of the release.
For more information, contact Leah Konrady, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI to Host Great Lakes Navigation and Funding Briefing
| NEMWI and honorary co-hosts Senators Carl Levin and Mark Kirk will hold a briefing on the history of funding Great Lakes navigation needs and the changes in funding mechanisms in recent years. The briefing will take place in the Capitol Visitor Center, SVC 208, February 14 from 11am-12pm; it will address the following questions:
* How were decisions made in the past to fund Great Lakes navigation?
* What has changed since the 111th and 112th Congress and this Administration?
* How are decisions made presently regarding funding for navigation needs?
Speakers include: Marie Strum, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Steve Fisher, Great Lakes Ports Association; and Chuck May, Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition.
For more information, contact Leah Konrady, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI Welcomes New Transportation and Sustainability Policy Analyst
| NEMWI would like to welcome Elizabeth Zgoda, Esq., to our team as a transportation and sustainability Policy Analyst. Beth will focus on performance measures for sustainable transportation relevant to the Northeast-Midwest region. Ms. Zgoda comes to NEMWI from Smart Growth America, where she recently completed a Fellowship in Policy & Research.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Zgoda.
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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Announces Farm Bill Hearings
| Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and member of the NEMW Senate Coalition, has announced the Committee's Farm Bill hearing schedule for February and March. It includes a February 29 hearing on the Conservation Title (Title 2), entitled "Strengthening Conservation through the 2012 Farm Bill." The hearings will set the stage for an anticipated Spring 2012 Farm Bill "Chairwoman's mark," or draft version that will then be sent to the full Senate Committee for consideration. For more details and the complete hearing schedule through the end of March see this Committee announcement.
For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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