Democratic lawmakers say they are going to vote against a bill funding the government for 10 more weeks because they don’t trust House Republican leadership over funding for Flint, Mich.
In a press conference Tuesday morning, California Sen. Barbara Boxer, both of Michigan’s senators, Flint’s congressman and a host of Michigan Democratic lawmakers promised they would not support the funding bill put forward by Republican leadership. The continuing resolution does not include any funding for Flint.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate both say the continuing resolution isn’t the proper way to send funding to Flint and point instead to the Water Resources Development Act passed by the Senate and under consideration by the House. But the House version of the bill doesn’t include funding for the city, whose water is contaminated by lead. The House Rules Committee rejected an amendment Monday to include $100 million for Flint in the bill.
Boxer said that emphasizes the need to put Flint funding in the continuing resolution. Even if the House passes the water infrastructure bill, there’s no guarantee Flint funding will end up in the final bill, she said.
“We can’t trust the House,” she said.
Earlier this month, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a water infrastructure bill that included a $220 million deal for Flint and cities like it. Included in that deal is $100 million to any state experiencing a drinking water emergency, $70 million to back secured loans to upgrade clean water and drinking infrastructure and $50 million in funding for health programs to address and prevent the effects of lead exposure.
A Department of Energy program for advanced vehicles that would be eliminated pays for the deal. The program is popular among Michigan lawmakers because it helps the auto companies in their state.
Flint’s residents are unable to drink their tap water without a filter. In April 2014, the city government, which then was controlled by the state, switched water sources from Lake Huron to the Flint River in an effort to save money.
The river was so polluted and corrosive that it caused lead pipes leading to residents’ homes to deteriorate, contaminating the drinking water in the city. The state was placed under federal and state states of emergency. The federal state of emergency lifted in August, though some federal agencies remain in the city.
Recent test results show homes still have high amounts of lead in their drinking water and only a few in the city have had their lead pipes removed.
Flint’s congressman, Rep. Dan Kildee, said he would be happy to keep the deal out of the continuing resolution if House Republican leadership would add it to the lower chamber’s version of the water infrastructure bill. He proposed that idea in an amendment Monday night, but GOP leadership killed it.
“What they’re saying is this belongs in WRDA but we’re not going to put it in WRDA,” Kildee said.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said that lack of support from House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders means her colleagues in the Senate will block a procedural vote on the funding bill later Tuesday.
“We’re going to send it back to the drawing board to get this right,” she said.
