Sen. Ananich calls for emergency funding from the state to address Flint water crisis

LANSING — Flint's Jim Ananich is calling for emergency funding from the state. Wednesday, in a closed door meeting at the Capitol, the senator met with members of the governor's staff. Although he says it's coming much later than he wanted he says progress was made.

"I'm probably never going to say the words, I am happy but I want to be satisfied," said Senator Jim Ananich, (D) Flint. "I told them I am going to continue to hold them accountable until I see actions."

Wednesday, he requested money from the current state budget be put toward getting more clean water and filters to people in Flint. He told the governor's staff he wants the two million dollars Flint had to pay to reconnect to the Detroit water supply refunded by the state.

And he wants the governor to commit to long-term funding, to address the full impact of the Flint water crisis. But he says it's too early to put an exact number on what he thinks Flint needs.

"We don't know the answer to that, we know there's a lot of damage but we don't know the full extent, until we have that it's hard to put a dollar amount on it," said Ananich.

Ananich's approach is calling for taxpayers from across the state now help in fixing the water problems in Flint. He hopes the rest of the state will be on board.

"If any kid across the state was poisoned with water, or poisoned in any form I would hope that me and my community would be more than willing to support it I think most of them would be as well," said Ananich.

But he's not stopping at that, he plans to draft a supplemental budget bill to ensure money is allocated for the Flint water crisis in the state's next budget. He hopes to have action in the legislature on that by the end of the month.