Despite Obama visit, Flint aid faces battle in Congress
President Barack Obama arrives in Flint on Wednesday nearly four months after he declared a state of emergency while Congress continues to debate whether the federal government should help finance the removal of lead-leaching pipes.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, who first proposed $1 billion in federal aid to replace Flint’s lead-tainted pipes, said she believes that Democrats’ heaping of blame for the crisis on Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has hindered the chances of a GOP-run Congress sending more federal aid.
“When you sit there and keep saying ... it’s all the governor’s fault, really a person who’s a member of Congress from Oregon is saying, ‘Well, why are we giving them money if it’s all the governor’s fault? Can’t Michigan do it then?’ ” said Miller, R-Harrison Township. “It sure makes it more difficult for people like me on the Republican side who want to assist.”
Miller said the federal government has to share in the cost of recovery in Flint because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “is culpable” for knowing for months last year that Flint’s water was going untreated with chemicals that guard against lead leaching from old pipes.
U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, said Republicans are quick to denounce the EPA and its leadership, but unwilling to pay for the agency’s mistakes.
“While they say this happened with some federal responsibility, when it comes to actually paying for the problem, they pull sort of a political jiu jitsu and go back to it being a state-created problem,” Kildee told The Detroit News. “That, to me, is duplicitous and not acceptable.”
Obama adviser to Flint: We still have your back
The division reflects the difficulty any Flint aid package will have getting through Congress.
“As tragic as it is, as important as it is, we here in Michigan see it most clearly. Others might not,” said Dave Dulio, chairman of Oakland University’s political science department.
“A lot of people probably think it’s pork, and they don’t want to be seen as adding to the deficit or providing a huge giveaway to the state of Michigan.”
The U.S. Senate could vote as early as next week on a $220 million package inspired by Flint’s water crisis that includes low-cost loans for Flint to pay for lead pipe removal. It cleared a Senate committee last week in a 19-1 vote.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved legislation that includes a $100 million subsidized loan program for lead pipe replacement and fixing damaged water mainlines. The drinking water revolving fund loans could be converted into a forgivable loan.
Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow have been promoting the legislation, while arguing state government is most at fault because Flint did not properly treat river water under the watch of a Snyder-appointed emergency manager and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
“But that should not preclude the federal government from lending a helpful hand, and that’s what this legislation does,” Peters said in a Tuesday interview.
The Senate could vote as early as next week on the $9.4 billion Water Resources Development Act, which includes 25 Army Corps of Engineer harbor and port projects as well as money for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The bill’s other Flint-related components include $70 million to finance $700 million in secured low-interest loans for water infrastructure anywhere in the country as well as $50 million for national health programs dealing with children’s lead poisoning.
“This is not just about Flint,” said Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. “It’s about water infrastructure, nationally. It’s about public health and the significant negative impact of lead on the people’s health and well-being in communities across the country.”
Stabenow and Peters pursued the water infrastructure legislation after U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, blocked their attempt to get aid for Flint attached to an energy bill.
If the legislation clears the Senate, it faces a potentially tougher sell in the more conservative House.
The 36-member Freedom Caucus has been pushing House Speaker Paul Ryan for spending cuts beyond the compromise federal budget agreement that Ryan’s predecessor John Boehner struck with Obama before retiring in late October.
Among the Freedom Caucus Republicans is Rep. Justin Amash, the west Michigan lawmaker who has criticized the state’s role in the Flint crisis. Amash, a member of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that has held three hearings on Flint, argues state government should tap a nearly $600 million reserve fund to pay for Flint’s needs.
Amash was the only one of the state’s nine House Republicans who did not back a bill introduced last month by U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar of Midland that would make $30 million available to crisis-stricken Flint and another $40 million to rural communities for water infrastructure improvements.
The slow pace of congressional action and dwindling amount of potential aid reflects the divisions in Washington, Dulio said.
“This is mainly about how much other members are motivated to want to do something about it,” he said.
Obama has vowed to support Flint. He was last in Michigan on Jan. 20 to tour the North American International Auto Show, four days after declaring a federal emergency in Flint but denying Snyder’s request for a disaster zone designation.
The Obama administration contends Flint’s man-made environmental and public health calamity does not qualify for disaster assistance given to cities and towns devastated by a hurricane, tornado or flood.
“We will have the backs of Flint’s people,” Obama vowed during a speech.
Because of the limited emergency designation, which expires Aug. 14, the federal government has sent $5 million in direct cash assistance for Flint. It has helped pay for 9 million liters of bottled water and 50,000 water filters, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
By comparison, the state Legislature has spent $67 million to date in state tax dollars and is working on another Flint aid bill containing $100 million in state funds for this fiscal year.
Other assistance has flowed to Flint from Washington, including emergency management personnel, expanded capacity at Head Start preschools, additional food assistance and more community health care services through $3.6 million in one-time funding, according to the White House.
“The EPA has surged resources to significantly expand water testing and offer technical advice as needed,” Earnest told White House reporters Tuesday during his daily briefing.
On Monday, the state will begin enrolling up to 15,000 additional Flint residents in Medicaid in an effort to identify more residents suffering from the effects of lead poisoning.
The federal government, which approved the expanded Medicaid program two months ago, is covering $20.8 million of the cost, while the state has to contribute $4.4 million in matching funds.
But the bigger question is who will pay for replacing Flint’s damaged underground water pipes, most on private property.
Peters hopes Obama’s visit to Flint will highlight for members of Congress “that this crisis has not gone away.”
“It’s very much still alive,” Peters said. “People are still drinking from bottled water, still have filters (and) still don’t have confidence that the water coming out of the tap is clean and not a threat and to their families.”
President’s visit
President Barack Obama is be greeted at Flint Bishop International Airport late Wednesday morning by Gov. Rick Snyder and others. Snyder and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver will participate in a briefing with Obama at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. The president also may meet with the governor and mayor outside of the briefing. Obama will take part in a roundtable discussion with residents to hear their firsthand accounts about the impact of the crisis. He also will meet Mariyanna Copeny, the 9-year-old girl who wrote the president a letter asking to meet him and visit her hometown. He finishes his visit with a 4 p.m. speech at Northwestern High School. In mid-January, Obama declared a federal emergency that was subsequently extended and ends Aug. 14.