Senate Bill 860 (S-6) – the less protective option for our aquatic resources. This bill was voted on May 15, 2008.
Senator Prusi offered an amendment to SB860 to reduce the allowable damage to coldwater fisheries from 3% to less than 1%. The amendment was not passed, it received a tie vote, 19-19, with the following votes cast:
Yeas – Anderson, Clark-Coleman, Kahn, Scott, Barcia, Clarke, Olshove, Switalski, Basham, Gleason, Prusi, Thomas, Brater, Hunter, Richardville, Whitmer, Cherry, Jacobs, Schauer
Nays – Allen, Cropsey, Jansen, Patterson, Birkholz, Garcia, Jelinek, Sanborn, Bishop, George, Kuipers, Stamas, Brown, Gilbert, McManus, Van Woerkom, Cassis, Hardiman, Pappageorge
This vote should very clearly show which Senators favor protecting our coldwater fisheries (Yeas) and which do not (Nays). This was a very specific amendment, and an opportunity for senators to support protecting Michigan’s coldwater fisheries. Those voting Nay were only voting against our coldwater fisheries. Please take note of this.
On the overall vote for the SB860 the following votes were cast (24-14 passed):
Yeas – Allen, Cropsey, Jansen, Patterson, Barcia, Birkholz, Garcia, Jelinek, Richardville, Sanborn, Bishop, George, Kahn, Kuipers, Stamas, Brown, Gilbert, McManus, Van Woerkom, Cassis, Hardiman, Pappageorge, Switalski, Gleason
Nays – Anderson, Clark-Coleman, Scott, Clarke, Olshove, Basham, Prusi, Thomas, Brater, Hunter, Whitmer, Cherry, Jacobs, Schauer
HB5065 contains the language which defines “adverse resource impacts”, and limits the amount of impact that can be caused to fish in coldwater streams to a less than 1% predicted decrease in abundance. Essentially this states that large-quantity water withdrawals can expand in the future, but only up to the point where they are predicted to cause damage. The votes cast on this bill yesterday (passed 57-50) clearly indicate where Representatives stand on protecting coldwater fisheries in Michigan. Please take note on who supported it and who didn’t, and let them know that you were watching. Representatives who voted Yeas stood in favor of protecting our coldwater resources while those voting Nay supported other causes.
Yeas – Accavitti, Cushingberry, Jackson, Miller, Angerer, Dean, Johnson, Polidori, Bauer, Dillon, Jones, Robert, Rocca, Bennett, Donigan, Lahti, Sak, Bieda, Ebli, Law (K), Scott, Brandenburg, Espinoza, LeBlanc, Smith (A), Byrnes, Farrah, Leland, Smith (V), Byrum, Gaffney, Lemmons, Tobocman, Cheeks, Gillard, Lindberg, Vagnozzi, Clack, Gonzales, Mayes, Valentine, Clemente, Hammel, McDowell, Ward, Condino, Hammon, Meadows, Warren, Constan, Hood, Meisner, Wojno, Corriveau, Hopgood, Melton, Young, Coulouris.
Nays – Acciavatti, Green, Meltzer, Proos, Agema, Griffin, Moolenaar, Robertson, Amos, Hansen, Moore, Schuitmaker, Ball, Hildenbrand, Moss, Shaffer, Booher, Hoogendyk, Nitz, Sheen, Brown, Horn, Nofs, Sheltrown, Calley, Hune, Opsommer, Simpson, Casperson, Jones (R), Palmer, Spade, Caswell, Knollenberg, Palsrok, Stahl, Caul, LaJoy, Pastor, Stakoe, Elsenheimer, Law (D), Pavlov, Steil, Emmons, Marleau, Pearce, Walker, Garfield, Meekhof.
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