The House approved of meager relief measures on Wednesday intended to help the city of Flint deal with its drinking water crisis. A more substantial aid package, however, remains stalled in the Senate.
Two amendments were attached to the Interior Department spending bill on Wednesday. One proposal would help fund a drinking water testing program in Flint, and the other permits Michigan to forgive loans it made to the city to finance public water services.
The measures were introduced by Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a lawmaker whose district includes Flint, and they were approved in a voice vote. The underlying appropriations bill is expected to pass the House Thursday.
The measures, however, fall short of addressing Flint’s actual long-term needs: cash infusions to replace the city’s lead-contaminated water pipes. Flint’s Mayor Karen Weaver is already scaling down plans to replace water lines. A pilot program to replace the first tranche of piping in the city revealed costs much higher than estimated. Weaver had planned to use $2 million in relief from the state to replace up to 500 pipes. The city is now seeking bids from contractors to replace just 250 water lines.
Senators in Washington have been been trying to advance a $220 million initiative since February that would authorize up to $100 million in grants to cities with drinking water emergencies.
But the relief was stopped abruptly in April, after Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) put a hold on it, claiming that the city was not in need of federal assistance. Although Senators came close to breaking the impasse by offsetting the funding with spending cuts to a program intended to bolster government vehicle’s efficiency, the bill has yet to move forward.
Flint’s drinking water was contaminated after government officials temporarily moved the city’s water source to the polluted Flint River. The more corrosive waters caused lead to leach out of the city’s aging pipes and into the drinking water. As many as 12,000 children living in Flint are believed to have been exposed to the leaded drinking water.
The cost-saving decision was approved by a financial manager appointed directly by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) to handle the city’s finances.
A Michigan state prosecutor in April charged three Flint officials with negligence and misconduct in office for their role in the ongoing crisis.
