Kudos to Ohio politicians on bipartisan move

Kudos to Ohio Sens. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, & to Ohio’s House delegation, for securing $300 million — full funding — for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Senate last week approved that amount after the House already okayed it, so the $300 million likely will stay when the two bills are melded, as cleveland.com’s Sabrina Eaton reported.

Also critical to this outcome: U.S. Rep. David Joyce, a Bainbridge Township Republican, who, with Michigan Democrat Sander Levin, marshaled House support.

President Donald Trump tried to slash the program after, earlier, wanting to zero it out. But, as Portman said after the Senate decided on full funding, Lake Erie and the rest of the Great Lakes are too important to cast off for spurious reasons. They “provide drinking water for 40 million people, contribute $10 billion in tourism each year, and support hundreds of thousands of jobs across the region.”

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has more than paid for itself in demonstrable economic and resource gains. Full funding of the initiative shows what constructive, bipartisan legislating can produce when Congress focuses on problems — not politicking.

Read the full editorial from the Cleveland Plain dealer at bit.ly/2vH9nLD