Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Wednesday that Democrats support the latest Republican effort to ensure federal aid gets to Flint, Mich., which should allow Democrats to lift their opposition to a stop-gap spending deal that’s needed to avoid a partial government shutdown after Friday.
“It should lead to our being able to move forward on the [bill],” Reid announced on the Senate floor. He added there are “a couple of other outstanding issues, but I think they should be able to get resolved.”
The deal will involve the House voting later today to include in a water resources bill $170 million in aid for Flint, where lead water has contaminated the water supply.
Democrats say they feel assured the money will be available for Flint in November, when the House and Senate clear the water bill for President Obama’s signature.
Democrats had been pushing to include the Flint money in the spending measure, which funds the government through Dec. 9 and must pass by Friday if a partial shutdown is to be avoided.
Passage of the spending bill had been stalled over the Flint dispute, but now appears imminent, Reid suggested.
“Now I feel very comfortable in being able to say to the people of Flint, Mich., that I’ve had conversations with people and have been given assurances by the Republican leaders that something will happen in the lame duck,” Reid said. “The House feels comfortable where they are on Flint, we feel comfortable in the Senate.”
