A deal to help Flint, Mich., and other cities dealing with water crises is being reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office as senators work to get it to the Senate floor.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who is blocking the bill over objections to the federal spending, has reached a tentative agreement with sponsor Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., a spokesman for Lee confirmed.
A Lee spokesman confirmed a Politico report that the Republican wants to make sure all requests for funding made under the deal would be paid for in the same year they are spent. The original bill would have paid for the spending in 2020, according to the report.
Reports from the Capitol on Wednesday indicated the CBO is reviewing the new proposal and there’s no deal just yet.
“We have the same ask we did from last week and Stabenow has mostly agreed to it,” the representative said.
A representative for Stabenow added the “negotiatons continue to be ongoing, nothing is settled yet.”
In April 2014, a state emergency manager appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed off on a symbolic vote from the Flint City Council to change the city’s water source. The move aimed to cut costs by requiring the city to take its water from the Flint River instead of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department while a new pipeline was built to connect the city to Lake Huron.
The Flint River water, however, was so acidic that it caused the lead pipes bringing water from the city’s cast iron mains into homes to corrode. Lead leached off the pipes and into the drinking water throughout the city.
The state and the federal government have declared a state of emergency, and Flint residents are not able to drink the water coming out of their taps.
The negotiations between Lee and Stabenow aren’t the only issue holding up the bill.
Sen Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Wednesday reiterated his commitment to a hold on the bill that is unrelated to the water deal. Ryan Brown, a spokesman for Nelson, said the Florida Democrat wants to stop potential drilling in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Sunshine State.
“Sen. Nelson supports the energy bill and the money for Flint, but the Republicans insist on an amendment that would start the process of drilling off Florida’s coast,” Brown said. “After four decades of protecting Florida’s beaches and military training areas in the Gulf, Sen. Nelson isn’t going to stop now.”
Sen. Bill Cassady, R-La., is also blocking the bill with a hold in an attempt to expand and increase revenue from offshore drilling.
