DALLAS -- Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday approved a $30 million Flint relief bill that brings the total emergency funding dedicated by the state to the city's water crisis to $70 million.
The bill will be promptly signed by Gov. Rick Snyder.
"Our plan is to provide credits, covering the cost of water used for drinking, cooking and bathing. We'll work with city leaders on how these credits are applied," Snyder said in a statement Tuesday after the plan received final approval.
Last Thursday, the House had unanimously approved the bill providing $30 million to Flint to help pay water bills for residents and businesses in the city but with some changes from the version previously approved by the Senate so it was sent back. The city had warned that it could run out of cash without help covering water bills.
The House introduced additional guidelines on how the money will be spent, including a provision that none of the money be used for administrative costs and that no water bills that were delinquent before April 2014 would be eligible for credits.
The bill provides water bill payment relief for Flint by giving residents a credit that would be applied to how much water people consume. Residents would be eligible for 65% credit and businesses would be eligible for credit of 20% of the water portion of their bills.
It's the third time Michigan lawmakers have acted to send relief money to the city of Flint: $9.3 million was approved last year to help the city connect back to Detroit's water system and the $28 million in emergency funding approved in January.
On Feb. 10, Snyder proposed a one-time investment of $195 million in his fiscal 2017 budget proposal to help restore safe drinking water to Flint.
Snyder said that the appropriation includes the $37 million to help with water infrastructure; $15 million for food and nutrition; $63 million for the health and well-being of Flint children and other vulnerable residents; and $30 million to provide water bill payment relief for Flint.
He also proposed that $50 million be set aside in a reserve fund for legislative oversight of the Flint programs after a six- to nine-month period. Lawmakers would have the opportunity to assess where the resources can be deployed most effectively with good accountability, efficiency and result, he said.
Flint's water crisis began after the city, under oversight of an emergency manager, broke off from the Detroit Water and Sewerage System in 2014 to save money when its contract to receive Detroit-supplied water ended. The city began pulling water from the Flint River and intended to use it until later this year when it will get its water from a new pipeline being built by the partially bond-financed Karegnondi Water Authority. The Flint River water wasn't property treated and corroded pipes throughout the system, creating damage and contamination that remained even after the city switched back to Detroit water.
Calls continue for Snyder to resign over the state's handling of the crisis and he faces recall petitions. On Monday, the Board of State Canvassers unanimously approved a recall petition for removing Snyder for declaring "a state of emergency in the County of Genesee and the City of Flint pursuant to the constitution of the state of Michigan and provisions of Act No. 390 of the Public Acts of 1976".
On Feb. 8, the board approved a recall petition to force Snyder out of office, and a statewide vote could come as early as Aug. 2 if the required signatures are collected in time.
That petition aims to recall Snyder for moving the state School Reform Office to a department under the governor's control. Nine other petitions involving the Flint water crisis were rejected because of technical errors like misspelled or omitted words. If the threshold on signatures is met for the approved petitions, majority support from voters is needed on the ballot question.
