After a two-year hold up, state lawmakers on Tuesday moved to make Ohio the sixth state to approve an agreement aimed at protecting the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes Compact, a framework between eight states and two Canadian provinces, would prevent most diversions of water from the lakes' basin to arid states in the South and Southwest.
Ohio had been a major obstacle to the pact because of a disagreement over whether the plan would inadvertently violate property rights for groundwater on privately owned land. House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican, and Democratic Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, reached a deal Monday to affirm private property rights and set the stage for Tuesday's vote.
The Senate passed the compact by a vote of 33-0 to join the House, which approved the compact last month. Gov. Ted Strickland has said he will sign it.
Ohio's Legislature gets the job done. And Pennsylvania is close behind.
Minor differences need to be worked out between the Michigan House and Senate in how to implement the Great Lakes Compact in that state, while the Pennsylvania Senate is expected to follow House approval this year. The bill cleared a Senate committee Tuesday.
Michigan, the Great Lakes State, might be the last to ratify the Great Lakes Compact. How embarrassing. House Dems have finished up the legislation, and now it rests in - ta da! - the Republican Senate, where it will join all those other bills that would help move Michigan into the 21st Century... but for some reason, they just can't seem to make things happen over there, can't ever seem to get the job done.
Why, it's almost like they plan it that way...