President Donald Trump’s budget proposes cutting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from $300 million to $10 million.
Earlier this week, Attorney General Bill Schuette was on Dave Akerly's radio show on WILSin Lansing to discuss, among other things, his recent visit with President Trump. When asked about the President’s proposed cuts to Great Lakes protections, Schuette said this:
“Where this really stems from is again, Obamacare and the mayor of Chicago and the Illinois shipping interests really don’t care about the quality of the Great Lakes and the fresh water. And what we don’t want is the Asian carp coming from the Mississippi River up into the Great Lakes.”
Most of the programs funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative are unrelated to Asian carp.
In a follow-up conversation with Stateside, Schuette clarified his comments and said he misspoke in the WILS interview. He said he opposes cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
“I stand by the Great Lakes, and I want to restore the funding,” he told us. “And I would hope that other Great Lakes elected officials would stand with me on that.”
Listen to our full interview with Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette above.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect that AG Schuette said he misspoke when he told WILS that proposed cuts to the Great Lakes were because of Obamacare.
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