Two bills to help Flint recover from the water crisis are making their way through the legislature. Both bills passed through the Senate Thursday with a near-unanimous vote.
One bill will make Flint a so-called “promise zone.” That would create a public-private fund to give money to high school students for college. Kalamazoo and other cities in Michigan already have this distinction. The money would go to Flint students that graduate with a high school degree and would give them at least an associate’s degree at a higher education institution in the city.
Democratic senator Jim Ananich sponsored both bills and was on a committee to look into what the legislature can do to help Flint and prevent another water crisis in Michigan. Ananich says Flint’s students deserve this opportunity.
“All aspects of Flint have been struggling because of this water crisis,” he said. “And now, we have some momentum on the private side, raising quite a bit of private dollars. To have this extra designation, I think would give people reason to stay and, you know, we need to give the Flint schools some advantages after all the people of Flint have been through.”
But, one senator voted against the bill. Republican Senator Patrick Colbeck says the legislation does not apply equally to everyone. He thinks there is a better way to fund college tuition.
“First of all, make sure no zip code based legislation,” he said. “Second of all, if you really want to go off and do it in a responsible manner for paying for higher education, do the educational savings accounts like the MESPs that are out there right now – the Michigan Educational Savings Plans – that’s what we need to do.”
The other bill would create an 11-member authority that could levy taxes and borrow money to fix the city’s water infrastructure. Ananich also sponsored this unanimously passed bill.
“That was a tool we wanted to give to local communities so that – obviously city has responsibilities picking up trash, police, fire,” he said. “And obviously dealing with a massive crisis is not something any city is necessarily prepared on day one to equip with.”
Both bills will now start to make their way through the State House.
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—Cheyna Roth is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
