Senator Murray’s Bill to Permanently Reauthorize Northwest Straits Commission Passes through Senate Science Committee

Senator Murray has worked tirelessly to fund the Northwest Straits Commission every single year since 1998

As Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Murray secured $1 million for Northwest Straits Commission in funding bills she negotiated and got signed into law in March

ICYMI: Senator Murray Tours Northwest Straits Commission Headquarters, Discusses Efforts to Protect Marine Habitats, Ecosystems in Northwest WA

Washington, D.C.- Today, legislation reauthorizing the Northwest Straits Commission introduced and championed by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) passed unanimously through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at a markup on pending legislation. The Northwest Straits Commission is a community-led effort to restore marine habitats in the Northwest Straits region and address local threats to marine environments with projects like restoring shellfish populations, protecting vulnerable ecosystems, and promoting growth for native water and shore-based plants. Senator Murray led the authorization of the Northwest Straits Commission in 1998 and has secured federal funding for the Commission every single year in the decades since.

Murray's bill will now have to pass through the full Senate and the House before it can be signed into law.

Text of the bill HERE.

The Northwest Straits Commission provides funding, training, and support to seven county-based Marine Resources Committees (MRCs) and 15 Tribes. The Commission advises local officials on how to best carry out environmental projects and provides expertise to community organizations to help them be partners in their work by, for example, training volunteers to identify forage fish spawning sites. Earlier this month, Murray visited the Northwest Straits Commission headquarters in Mount Vernon, Washington, to tour facilities and meet with staff.

"The Northwest Straits Commission is very near and dear to my heart-I worked hard to establish the Commission back in 1998 and have made certain to secure federal funding for it ever since," said Senator Murray. "Passing my bill out of committee is an important step forward, now I'll be focused on getting this reauthorization through the full Senate. Protecting these resources really matters for our economy and our way of life-reauthorizing the Northwest Straits Commission will ensure this incredible organization can count on federal support long into the future."

Over the years, Senator Murray has helped secure tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for the Northwest Straits Commission's restoration work and research. Most recently, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray secured $1 million for the Northwest Straits Initiative through programmatic funding in the appropriations bills she wrote and passed into law in March. This was the first time Northwest Straits received programmatic funding since the original authorization expired in 2004, and the resources are significant in helping to ensure the Commission is funded long into the future. Murray will be fighting to protect and build on these investments in the appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025 and beyond.

In the appropriations bills for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, Senator Murray secured a total of $6 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funding for the Northwest Straits Commission; that funding was essential to the removal of the "Windjammer" sailboat that had been partially submerged near the Kukutali Preserve since 2009 on Swinomish Tribal tideland. Prior to the return of Congressionally Directed Spending in Fiscal Year 2022, Murray ensured the Northwest Straits Commission received annual funding through the EPA's Puget Sound Geographic Program. Prior to that, Murray secured CDS funding for the Northwest Straits Commission after the original authorization for the Commission expired in 2004.

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