Flint funding up in the air

Federal funding for the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., remains unresolved as Congress returns from a seven-week recess.

It’s been nearly a year since Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) publicly acknowledged that the water in the city of 100,000 was contaminated with lead, partly due to his administration’s decision to switch the city’s water source.

{mosads}Congressional Democrats say hundreds of millions of dollars is needed to help Flint deal with the water contamination. While Republicans have listened to those calls, they’re hesitant to spend new federal money.

The fight is getting swept up in election-year politics. Democrats are broadly making the case that the Republican-led Congress has failed to deal with a slew of public health emergencies, including Flint, the Zika virus, gun violence and opioid addiction.

Democrats plan to ramp up the pressure this fall. In the House, they plan to take Republicans to task and accuse them of ignoring the city’s plight. 

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Democrats are pushing for a bipartisan water infrastructure bill that includes $220 million for Flint and other cities with drinking water contamination problems. 

“Things are still very tough in Flint,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a Flint native and the area’s representative. 

“The water is still not drinkable from the tap. Most people are still using bottled water, still experiencing symptoms.”

Kildee has been leading the charge in Congress, along with Democratic Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, to get emergency funding to Flint.

In recent months, including through the summer recess, Kildee and the senators have been working with receptive lawmakers in both parties to move a funding package, likely by attaching it to a piece of must-pass legislation.

“We’re going to push on every angle we can, for as much as we can,” Kildee said. “This is a crisis that warrants federal involvement.”

Aid for Flint could be attached to an appropriations bill or legislation to address Zika, among other things.

The effort in the Senate, meanwhile, has centered on a $220 million funding provision for Flint or other cities with drinking water contamination. The money could be used for infrastructure replacement and to deal with health needs from any poisoning. The money for the provision would be taken from a Department of Energy vehicle technology program. 

The package was attached earlier this year to the Senate’s energy modernization bill. But it was removed amid a stalemate over the exact funding mechanisms.

It is now part of the Senate version of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization, a bill mainly aimed at funding ports, locks, dams and related infrastructure. The bill passed through the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously in April.

But time is running out in the Senate, with only a few weeks of session in September before another recess that stretches until after Election Day.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not yet scheduled time for the water bill to be considered by the full Senate. And even if the bill were to pass, lawmakers would have to set up a conference committee to resolve differences with the House version, which does not have the Flint provision.

Scott Slesinger, the top lobbyist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), was optimistic that the water bill with Flint aid would pass in the Senate, but said the House is less certain. 

“Generally, it’s not controversial in the Senate, and it’s very important to [Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.)] and [ranking member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)] to move this through,” he said.

The NRDC is a leading environmental voice for Flint. The group is suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Michigan and the city over their respective roles in the contamination and aftermath. 

Slesinger said the Michigan delegation, and particularly House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R), ought to ramp up efforts to pass Flint funding, through WRDA or another vehicle.

“The disaster is still there. People still do not have access to safe water,” Slesinger said. “It’s like a third-world country.”

A spokesman for Upton said that he supports the Senate’s $220 million Flint plan and has pushed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has the main jurisdiction over the water infrastructure bill, to agree with the Senate and pass it.