‘oo Mixe Suinxey ‘ame gon sae SENATE MAJORITY LEADER, Jane 27,2019 “The Honorable Gretchen Whitmer Governor George W. Romney Building P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Mi 48909 Dear Governor Whitmer, (On behalf ofthe thousands of Michigan residents we represent, we urge you to provide the leadership ecesstry to reach a compromise that will ensure the continued apeation and long-term safety ofthe Line 5 ol pipeline. Regardless of where they live in our great stat, ashutdown ofthis ine would diretly and ‘negatively impact almost every Michigander. ‘As you are likely aware, Michigan consumes more propane for residential purposes than any other stat in the union. Our constituents use this propane to heat their homes and cook ther food, And more than half ‘of fecomes through Line 5 tis estimated that replacing the prone lost by closing the ine would require ‘an additonal 30,000 truckloads and 9,600 railcars annually. ‘But closing Line $ wouldn't just ham those Michiganders who rey on propane. An independent study by “Michigan Tech researches ound that refineries in Deoit and Toledo would be frced to pay higher prioes for crde il, which they would pas onto Michigan drivers inthe frm of higher gas prices. [Aipos in Detroit and Grand Rep that depend on je uel from local refineries would alo se price increases that would be passed onto their passengers through higher fares. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, thee are thousands of jobs at isk should you decide o close Line 5 and abandon the plan wo build a protective tunnel. More than 25,000 (mostly union) employees service ‘he in, and work in the refineries and industrial sites it supplies. And ofcourse, the tunnel projec iselr ‘would eeate thousands more new, high-paying jobs. On behalf of the hardworking Michigan families we all serve, we ask that you recognize and acknowledge the eriealimporance of keeping Line 5 operational while we work to ensure its longterm safety by constructing the protective tunnel. Yur leadership i eritical in Keeping propane affordable and accessible for Michiganders come winter, to avoid a significant increase in as prices, and to keep ‘thousands of ou fellow residents working good: paying jobs. Sen, Mike Shirkey ‘Sen, Wayne Schmidt Sen. Ed MeDroska Tesh District Ah Dice “ith District