Michigan legislators discuss water compact

Date: October 29, 2009

October 23, 2009

Two Michigan legislators discussed their bipartisan work that successfully led to the passage of the Great Lakes Water Compact during a Campus Sustainability Week event held October 19 in the Kirkhof Center.

Sen. Patty Birkholz (R-Saugatuck Township) and State Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) discussed their work to create the compact, a multi-state agreement designed to protect the Great Lakes. The compact was based largely on scientific data, establishing a new fish health standard to determine the health of a body of water. Michigan was the first state to develop this standard. 

The Women's Center and the Political Science department sponsored the event.

Despite many criticisms and doubts from others that two women would be able to pass a compact of this magnitude, Birkholz and Warren said they took on the challenge with a vengeance. 

"We were a team made up of a conservative from West Michigan and a liberal from Ann Arbor," Warren said. "We knew that this was an important issue for Michigan and we stayed at the table, using our different perspectives to make us a stronger team."

Birkholz and Warren proved that they were a strong team when, after only two years of working together, they were able to get the compact passed through Michigan's Legislature and signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm and President George W. Bush. "This was the moment when people realized that this was three women getting things done," Birkholz said of Granholm signing the compact. "This was a huge accomplishment for women in politics."

This article can be found here.