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Gov. Rick Snyder speaks about the Flint water crisis during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 at City Hall in downtown Flint.

(Flint Journal file photo)

LANSING, MI -- The budget for defending Gov. Rick Snyder and employees charged with criminal wrongdoing in the Flint water crisis has reached $7.9 million following new spending authorizations approved Tuesday, Aug. 30, by the State Administrative Board.

The board took just a few minutes with no discussion to approve an increase -- from $2.3 to $4.5 million for 15 legal service contracts for the Department of Environmental Quality related to Flint water.

Snyder's office also informed the board that the governor has approved amending two contracts with law firms hired to defend him against civil claims and to prepare and review records related to the water emergency -- an increase to $3.4 million.

Anna Heaton, press secretary for the governor, said all investigations related to Flint water "are looking at actions taken by Gov. Snyder in his official capacity as governor of the state and, therefore, it is appropriate that the state bears those costs.

"Using state money actually provides for a high level of transparency because the contracts are being released publicly," said Heaton, who has said that a "huge portion" of attorney fees were attributable to document review and production related to the online posting of more than 180,000 pages of emails and documents related to Flint water issues.

Heaton said Tuesday's notification to the Administrative Board means that the state may spend up to $3.4 million, but to date has paid invoices totaling $1.4 million related to the governor's office.

State Democrats had called on the GOP-run Legislature and the Administrative Board to block what they called Snyder's "brazen attempt to force taxpayers to foot the bill" for his attorney fees.

"The governor does not have the unilateral right to cut himself a blank check for his criminal defense," state Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon said in a news release. "The scary part is that no one knows how much more the public will be forced to pay. At this rate, it looks like the amount could stretch into the tens of millions of dollars."

In addition to the $7.9 million now approved for DEQ and Governor's Office attorney bills, there's more to the cost to state taxpayers for legal action related to Flint water.

The Department of Health and Human Services has told MLive that it has spent more than $246,000 in legal fees and $3.9 million has also been appropriated for Attorney General Bill Schuette's criminal investigation of the water crisis.

State Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, reacted to the rising legal fees -- particularly those of Snyder, saying he plans to introduce a bill that would bar the governor, secretary of state, treasurer or auditor general from receiving taxpayer dollars to retain private counsel independent of the attorney general.

Ron Fonger is a reporter for MLive. He can be reached at 810-347-9963 or rfonger1@mlive.com.