Two Indiana lawmakers and a member of President Trump’s cabinet are celebrating the passage of a new federal law that will help state and national parks and recreation areas.
Rep. Jackie Walorski, Sen. Todd Young, and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt were all in Elkhart Thursday, where they spoke to workers in the RV industry, which is the area’s biggest employer.
Bernhardt said the Great American Outdoors Act will provide federal money, to the tune of $9.5 billion to public lands for maintenance, improvements, and repairs. He said the RV industry stands to benefit the most from the legislation.
“America loves its national parks and public lands, but we have not done a good job in keeping up with our scheduled maintenance,” he said. “Each of these products is likely going to end up at a state park or national park.”
Walorski and Young said the RV industry in northern Indiana accounts for over 143,000 jobs. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, more Americans started buying RV’s because camping was one of the few things people could still do during the shutdowns back in from March to May.
“The RV industry produces, attracts and has so many employees and is signing this new contract with the American worker,” Representative Walorski said. “I can assure you that every secretary that’s appointed right now in Washington sees ‘RV’ across my forehead when I walk into their office.”
Young said the new law will surely help state parks and national parks in Indiana, where people take their new RV’s to go camping. He said the backlog of maintenance and repairs at parks here is worth roughly $34 million.
The Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law by President Trump Aug. 4 after being passed by Congress.
