flint water crisis
Rick Snyder to propose $30 million credit for Flint water customers
As part of his 2016-17 budget proposal, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) will put forward a plan to give Flint residents $30 million in state funding to cover portions of their water bills for a two-year period.
The water in Flint became contaminated with lead after the city's water supply source was switched in 2014, and a statement released from Snyder's office to The Associated Press states that residents would receive a credit for 65 percent of the water portion of their combined water and sewer bill, while businesses and commercial customers would receive a 20 percent credit. If passed by state lawmakers, the credit will cover water bills from April 2014 to the spring of 2016, when officials say they hope water will once again be safe to drink without needing to be filtered.
Angela Wittrock, a spokeswoman for Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich of Flint, told AP the proposal doesn't "come close" to being enough to refund residents of Flint for the "undrinkable, unusable water they paid for starting in April 2014 — let alone what they then paid for water they could use."