Leaders Announce Funding for Soo Locks Upgrade

Liz Gullett

Jun 01, 2018

This week, four of Michigan’s government leaders joined together to announce $50 million in funding for Soo Locks upgrades. For the announcement, Governor Rick Snyder was joined by Lt. Governor Brian Calley, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, and House Speaker Tom Leonard. Over the past few weeks, the leaders have worked together to identify funding in the state budget to be used for much needed upgrades. “All estimates point to a severe negative economic impact nationwide should the locks shutdown. Due to the severity of the impact, Governor Snyder and Lt. Governor Calley have been publicly speaking for months about the urgent need to upgrade the Soo Locks.” explained Tim Ward, President of MLC.

The Soo Locks are managed by the federal government. Last month, President Donald Trump urged support for a locks upgrade and publicly stated that large-scale infrastructure projects leveraging non-federal investments will be moved to the top of the priority list. State leaders are hoping that through funding a share of the project, it will show the commitment Michigan has to upgrading the locks. In 1986, Congress authorized the lock rebuild, but has yet to appropriate funding for the project.

If the locks become inoperable, the shipment of iron ore would come to a halt, immediately affecting manufacturing and disrupting a vast portion of the U.S. economy. It’s estimated that if the locks are shut down for even six months, 11 million jobs would be lost nationwide.

For more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/fixthesoolocks.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.