FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
February 26, 2016
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Flint Residents Forced to Pay for Poison Under Snyder Plan
Snyder’s budget supplemental fails to make Flint families whole
MICHIGAN — Gov. Rick Snyder will be signing a budget supplemental today that forces Flint residents to continue to pay for poisoned water that has damaged their health, their livelihoods and their homes.
“It is ludicrous that Gov. Snyder would expect the residents of Flint to pay a dime for poison water,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “By his own admission, this is a discount, not a total reimbursement. Essentially, folks are still being charged for water beyond cooking, bathing and drinking. This is a half-measure that insults the community and is yet another abhorrent example of putting the bottom line over the well-being of the people.”
Snyder will sign the $30 million measure that will give residents a discount on the water bills they’ve paid for drinking, cooking and bathing. However, the people of Flint should be reimbursed 100 percent for their water and should not have to pay for water until the entire city water system is deemed safe for human consumption.
“Flint is a city where many of the residents are already living in poverty and struggle to pay the bills. They shouldn’t have to choose between paying the rent and paying for poisoned water, especially when they have some of the highest water bills in the country,” Scott continued. “There’s a lot of trauma and mistrust in the community due to Snyder’s handling of this crisis and a half-fix like this is nothing for the administration to celebrate.”
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