Flint’s congressman says he believes there’s enough bipartisan support for $170 million in federal funding for his hometown to clear a major hurdle Wednesday afternoon.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., managed to negotiate a vote on the federal aid as an amendment to the House version of the Water Resources Development Act being considered Wednesday. The funding would go toward helping the city update its water infrastructure, including removing lead pipes and modernizing its water distribution system. Residents in Flint have not been able to drink their tap water without a filter for more than a year because it has been contaminated by lead.
Kildee said he negotiated directly with House Speaker Paul Ryan late into the night Tuesday to get the funding considered as an amendment to the water infrastructure bill. He said he thinks enough Republicans will side with Democrats in supporting the funding that it will be included in the final bill, which has momentum in Congress.
“The kind of commitment we’re seeing and the interest members have in getting their projects approved have created some momentum,” he said.
“I don’t know what the margin will be, but I’ve gotta believe we’ll be in good territory and we’ll get it passed.”
The deal reached Tuesday night will keep Flint funding out of the continuing resolution to keep the government running into December. Senate Democrats blocked a procedural vote on the funding bill Tuesday because they objected to the lack of funding for Flint.
However, it appears the deal worked out among Kildee, Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, was enough to placate Senate Democrats. The continuing resolution passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon.
Kildee said he would have preferred to attach Flint to the government funding bill, but the Water Resources Development Act is the “best available path,” he said.
If the funding is added to the bill and the bill passes the House, it sets up negotiations between the House and Senate in a conference committee. The Senate overwhelmingly approved its Water Resources Development Act two weeks ago, and that bill included $220 million in funding for Flint.
It’s expected that House Republican leaders will echo the commitments that Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., made to include Flint funding in the bill that comes out of those negotiations.
Kildee said he didn’t get a firm commitment from Ryan on the conference committee getting a final bill in front of lawmakers before the end of the session in December, but he’s confident that President Obama will have a bill including Flint funding in front of him by the end of the year.
“I feel like we’re on the same page,” he said.
Still, questions remain about how many Republicans will line up to support Flint funding.
Heritage Action for America, the influential conservative group, urged lawmakers to vote against the funding in a “key vote” statement Wednesday afternoon. The conservative group said the lead water crisis in the eastern Michigan city of 100,000 is a state and local issue that shouldn’t be tackled by the federal government.
“House Republicans should reject this effort to prioritize an amendment that grows government, spends more and creates bad precedents,” the statement read.
“Even worse, it is for the sake of appeasing Democrats and ensuring passage of a short-term continuing resolution that sets up an unaccountable lame-duck session of Congress.”
