Statement from Boy regarding legislation addressing issues for Northwest Indiana communities along the Lake Michigan shoreline

INDIANAPOLIS – State Representative Pat Boy (D-Michigan City) today released the following statement regarding the approval of House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1385, which includes provisions to address the dire situation communities along the Lake Michigan shoreline are currently facing:

“Communities like mine along the Lake Michigan shoreline have been devastated by the effects of an unusually warm winter,” Boy said.

“This is a crisis in Northwest Indiana and this legislation is a good first step in providing some form of relief,” she continued.

“I am still eager to see further action from Governor Holcomb's office because these communities still have a long road ahead of them in order to recover from the damage they've already sustained.”

HEA 1385 includes guidelines for the repair or construction of the protective sea walls along Lake Michigan, and upholds the ruling of the courts that the public has the right to use the beaches along the shoreline for recreation.

Boy and State Senator Karen Tallian (D-Ogden Dunes) sent a letter to the governor’s office in January asking him to issue a Declaration of Emergency for communities in Porter and LaPorte counties along the Lake Michigan shoreline so that they would be eligible for federal relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The lake’s water level, in combination with recent storm waves, has resulted in conditions this part of the lake hasn't seen in decades. The governors of Illinois and Wisconsin have declared a State of Emergency for their communities affected by abnormally high water levels and erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline.