Kathleen Gray and Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Without debate, the Michigan House of Representatives unanimously approved providing $30 million to Flint to help pay water bills for residents and businesses in the city.

The bill would give a credit that would be applied to how much water people consume — roughly 65% of the water portion of a resident's bill. Businesses would be eligible for credit of 20% of the water portion of their bills. Residents and business owners would still be responsible for paying the sewer portion of their bills.

Residents have long complained about having to pay for water they could not drink. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this week seeks more than $150 million in refunds and compensation for damages for water that the plaintiffs allege was dangerous, undrinkable and unusable.

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Flint’s chief financial officer, Jody Lundquist, told House members Wednesday that without the financial support from the state, “the city’s water fund is projected to run out of cash by this summer. Even with the appropriation, if public confidence can

While Democrats offered amendments that would have doubled the amount from $30 million to $60 million to pay for entire water bills, along with $3.5 million in aid to help with nutritional needs of children and families and $55 million to kick-start the removal and replacement of lead pipes, all those proposals failed before the bills was unanimously approved by the House.

"$30 million will not solve the problem. It will not be a sufficient amount of money to recoup the users from April 2014 to April 2016," said state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, D-Flint. "This bill is going to be a start. We don't want to reject anything that's going to provide some level of relief from ratepayers."

The House did approve additional guidelines on how the money will be spent, including a provision that none of the money be used for administrative costs and that no water bills that were delinquent before April 2014 — when the city switched from using water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department that was drawn from Lake Huron to water from the Flint River — would be eligible for credits.

"It’s a big step now the third time that we’ve acted to send needed dollars to the city of Flint," said Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, referring to $9.3 million approved last year to help the city connect back to Detroit's water system and the $28 million approved in January for a variety of services in Flint. "We're trying to be helpful where we can ... but no matter where we came down, there were going to be some that aren't going to be happy one way or another. It’s unfortunate that each time we act, its considered not enough."

The bill — SB 136 — has to go back to the Senate, which unanimously approved it two weeks ago, for concurrence in the changes made by the House. It's expected to be taken up on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday announced $2 million in additional funding to help Flint address its water infrastructure needs, including replacement of lead service lines.

Snyder said in a news release the money will be available for the city to start removing priority lead service lines within the next 30 days.

Based on estimates Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has received from the Lansing Board of Water and Light, which is assisting with the replacement of lead service lines, that should cover several hundred homes, he said.

Snyder said the money will come in the form of a Financially Distressed Cities, Villages and Townships Grant intended to reimburse the city for its $2-million share of the cost of reconnecting to the Detroit water system in October.

“This funding continues Michigan’s substantial and coordinated response to the Flint water crisis,” Snyder said. “We continue to ensure every possible resource is being utilized so that Flint families have safe and reliable drinking water in their homes and schools.”

Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager and began drawing drinking water from the Flint River as a temporary cost-cutting measure.

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Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal