Advocates celebrated the fact that much-needed and long-overdue funding to help the people of Flint, Michigan and other communities hurt by lead-contaminated water was approved by Congress before it left Washington. In a two-bill deal, $170 million was included in the Continuing Resolution that passed the House on December 8 and the Senate on December 9. However, language included in the CR required that the money be authorized in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) before it would be allowed to flow to Flint. This was a complication because of concerns over certain environmental issues in WRDA. The water projects bill passed the House (360-61) on December 8 and the Senate (78-21) in the early morning hours of December 10.

While it is good news that money will finally be available to help the people of Flint, the aid package that passed is less than the $220 million package previously passed in the Senate. CQ reports that estimates for the cost of replacing Flint’s water pipelines range from $300 million to $700 million or more. For more information on the CR, see the related article in this Human Needs Report.

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