Bill Posey's and Patrick Murphy's Estuary Bill Passes House

On Wednesday, in the lame-duck session, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reauthorize funding for the National Estuary Program (NEP). The bill was championed by two congressmen from Florida: Republican Bill Posey and Democrat Patrick Murphy. The two congressmen wanted federal funds to protect estuaries including the Indian River Lagoon.

This common-sense plan will help provide critical funding for our nations estuaries, and make available additional funding to estuaries that are experiencing urgent and challenging ecological problems, including our own Indian River Lagoon, Posey said on Wednesday. Im pleased to see this important legislation move forward in a strongly bipartisan manner.

It is great to see the House act swiftly on the National Estuary Program to help support the health of our waterways, Murphy said. The Treasure Coast will directly benefit because this bill includes our bipartisan proposal to prioritize the Indian River Lagoon. With the health of our economy directly tied to our waterways, this common-sense measure is well-deserving of the overwhelming bipartisan support it received today, and I hope that the Senate quickly follows suit.