Governor Snyder released
thousands of pages of staff emails to the public on Friday and in the wake, it
has shown many top-level staff officials were aware of the severity of the
Flint water situation as early as January 2015.
The emails show
conversations between then chief of staff Dennis Muchmore, legislative director
Dick Posthumus, then communications director Jarrod Agen, then legal director
Michael Gadola, and strategy chief John Walsh. Governor Snyder’s presence in
the email threads was absent until late September 2015. T.J. Bucholz of
Vanguard Public Affairs does not believe this means the governor was not informed.
In a statement, Mr. Bucholz expressed his disbelief that Governor Snyder’s
top-ranking staffers failed to bring this to his attention.
Senate Minority
Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint) was heavily critical of the Governor upon reading
the emails, however he was reluctant to call for his resignation stating “his
goal is not to get rid of a governor…it’s to rid this administration of
corruption and incompetence… [and] we can’t start that until Governor Snyder
sits under oath and owns his failure.” Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof
(R-West Olive) was less critical of the Governor and shifted his focus to the
failure of the Environmental Protection Agency, siting its basis of standards
as part of the problem. House Minority Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) sang
a different tune and directly called for the Governor’s resignation after the
emails were released.
The U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services approved the state’s application to expand
Medicaid coverage on Thursday. This expansion includes coverage to all children
up to age 21, and pregnant women with incomes below poverty level. Roughly, an
additional 15,000 children and pregnant women will see coverage with about
30,000 current beneficiaries eligible for the expanded services.
The Senate
Appropriations Committee began review of SB 777, an appropriation for $126
million in supplemental aid to Flint. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair
Senator Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell) commented that the House may be approaching
supplemental appropriations differently, but that he believes the House and
Senate will ultimately support similar efforts for Flint.
Meanwhile, Speaker
Kevin Cotter (R-Mount Pleasant) announced Wednesday he does not intend to take
up additional appropriations for the Flint situation, rather other resources
being sent to the city should be considered during the overall budget process.
The Speaker has received criticism from several different sources, most
unsurprisingly from Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. Several legislators in leadership
have commented their desire to discuss this decision with the Speaker.