Rep. Beau LaFave voted Friday to provide more financial support for local recycling programs, an Upper Peninsula ski jump, Northern Michigan University, rural broadband improvements and several other priorities.
LaFave supported a measure that will allow the state to put $69 million into an environmental cleanup fund, about $15 million of which will go toward local recycling programs across the state annually. It’s a high priority for LaFave, who has aggressively sought and promoted common-sense ways to boost recycling efforts.
The investment approved today will boost recycling, clean up polluted sites and add more money to detect and combat PFAS.
“We have helped raise awareness about the need to help local communities with recycling programs, and this new measure delivering more support is an important step in the right direction,” said LaFave, of Iron Mountain. “This will be great news for families who want more options to recycle.”
The new budget bills approved by the Legislature also fulfill the state’s $52 million commitment to help build an additional Soo Lock, and they will provide money to ensure oversight and accountability in the Mackinac Straits Line 5 underground tunnel project. The budget plan allocates $10 million for a northern Michigan tourism and sports fund, for projects such as the Pine Mountain Ski Jump and Copper Peak. About $20 million in grants to improve rural broadband access is including in the plan. LaFave also successfully included a provision to add funding for Northern Michigan University’s career tech and engineering facility.
State park staffing in the Upper Peninsula will get a $1 million boost, and a dredging project to protect the Buffalo Reef – located off the eastern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior – will get $3 million.
The plan also provides another $25 million to the school safety grant program, which will help more schools make needed security improvements. This investment supports a comprehensive approach including the creation of a statewide school safety commission and a previously approved expansion of the OK2SAY confidential school safety reporting program.
LaFave, a key bill sponsor in the school safety improvement plan, helped shepherd the package to the governor’s desk. The bills already have passed the Senate.
