Instead, he said, “As soon as the water samples were tested and the results verified, Snyder announced the results at a press conference in Flint on October 8”.
Advertisement
Schuette said Tuesday that Michigan’s public-records law should be expanded to include the governor’s office because of the Flint disaster.
“The only recourse we have left after all the marching, the meeting, the protesting, the petitioning, the phone calls and the basic begging for them to do their job and help us, is to go to the courts”, said Melissa Mays, a mother of three who has signed on to five different lawsuits.
Mayor Karen Weaver told reporters that her message to the president is simple: “President Obama, come to Flint”.
“For water and water infrastructure it’s essentially $37 million”.
Governor Rick Snyder wants to spend almost $200 million to help Flint, but it was hard for him to get that message across in his budget presentation on Wednesday thanks to a loud group of protesters.
Flint is under a state of emergency until government authorities and independent experts declare the water safe to drink again without filters, which officials have said could happen in the spring. Lead in tap water was found to have reached dangerously high levels, and tests found that many children had lead in their bloodstream.
Flint’s water troubles, concerns about other aging water infrastructure and the Detroit school’s district dire financial outlook – it needs a $720 million infusion of cash over a decade to avoid bankruptcy, according to Snyder – overshadowed more nuts-and-bolts budget details this year, such as funding for education, municipalities and workforce development. For health and well-being it’s $63 million.
But his efforts have not been enough to stave off criticism.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has formally requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launch civil and criminal investigations into the disastrous water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Hillary Clinton visited Flint over the weekend and condemned the government’s handling of the situation. “If we do not act, this will be an issue resolved in the court system, where the outcomes can be much more devastating to taxpayers of MI and the school districts of this entire state”, he said. Clean drinking water is not a privilege but a right for all Americans. He also called for $18 million to train 85 new trooper recruits and 350 more corrections officers.
Many have been angry with the governor for not spending time with the victims of the crisis. At one school, Freeman Elementary School, levels were six times higher than federal limits.
Snyder framed his budget request Wednesday as a way to address some of those issues.
The EPA has acknowledged that state officials notified the agency last April that Flint was not treating the river water with additives to prevent corrosion from pipes.
Advertisement
State and local officials have also turned to Congress for support, but on Wednesday, negotiations in the Senate over a measure that would have provided federal emergency aid to the state appeared to fall apart as lawmakers failed to reach agreement on how to pay for it.
