House passes Water Resources Development Act bill
The U.S House of Representatives passed its version of the Water Resources Development Act Wednesday by a vote of 399-25.
The Senate passed a different version last week by a 95-3 vote, so the bill will head to conference committee to resolve the differences. The WRDA provides authorization and funding for a wide variety of boating infrastructure projects throughout the country.
The most significant difference between the two bills is funding to deal with the drinking-water crisis in Flint, Mich.
Industry advocates applauded the passage of the bill
“I want to sincerely thank everyone in the industry who took the time to send prewritten letters on the WRDA bill to Congress through Yamaha Marine Advocacy. The passage of this bill once again proves our efforts to advocate through the industry’s online advocacy systems really do have a tremendous impact,” said Bill Boehman, vice president, Yamaha Marine Group.
“As an industry, we must show solidarity and resolve to affect legislation that impacts our businesses. The WRDA bill provides a strong next step forward in resolving the issues we’ve seen in Florida in the estuaries adjacent to Lake Okeechobee,” added Boehman.