FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
January 11, 2016
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Flint Flashback: Snyder’s First Budget Cut Water Protection Agency Over 10%
Snyder’s disinvestment and disinterest in clean water evident from day one by MDEQ cuts
LANSING — In light of the Flint Water Crisis, Progress Michigan is calling attention to Gov. Rick Snyder’s first budget that cut 10.8 percent of the funding to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) budget.
“Michiganders and the public at large should know that Gov. Snyder took actions at the beginning of his tenure to cut funding for the MDEQ despite the fact that this department is charged with keeping our drinking water safe,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “From day one, Governor Snyder and his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate have prioritized their corporate donors over the health and safety of Michigan’s children.”
Progress Michigan also pointed out that Gov. Snyder’s first Executive Order reorganized state government to split the MDEQ and Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) into separate departments.
“Gov. Snyder created this department with his pen and should be held accountable for each and every decision that was made since he created it,” Scott continued. “Republicans have often said that they would like government so small that they could drown it in a bathtub. Instead, Michigan Republicans have made government so ineffective that the children in Flint are being poisoned from the water in their bathtub.”
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