Presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas and other Republican senators recently held up the bipartisan legislation. But the presidential candidate has already lifted the hold he has placed on the bill to address the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
According to Yahoo! News, Republican senators reached a tentative deal a day earlier for a $220 million package fixing and restoring of Michigan's lead-contaminated pipes. They are also making improvements on other infrastructures, and boosting the nationwide lead-prevention programs.
But Ted Cruz and at least one other GOP senator refused to settle on a quick vote on the deal. The decision is allegedly delaying the Senate consideration of the legislation until at least next week.
Phil Novack, who is the spokesman for the Texas senator, stated via ABC NEWS on Thursday that the Republican presidential frontrunner already reviewed the bill. Novack also revealed that Cruz will not prevent the bill from moving forward in the Senate.
But there were no comments made whether other holds on the legislation had already been lifted. Kristina Baum. A spokeswoman of Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla, admitted that there were a few attempts to block the bill. But she refused to pin-point senators who were declining to support the bill and just stated that other senators were genuinely trying to address their concerns.
The chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska expressed her optimism towards the lawmakers. She claimed that she's trying to think positive that lawmakers could resolve the dispute and take up both the Flint bill and a larger energy package it is tied to next week.
On the other hand, Novack refused to give specific details of the nature of Cruz's concerns, but a lot of Republican senators have stated that it is still premature to provide fund for Flint without any specific plans from the state and local officials. Moreover, some republicans also question whether Flint's crisis is corresponding to natural disasters, including floods or hurricanes, since the crisis was the result of the political ruling, as reported by The Big Story.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated when the city switched from the Detroit water system and started producing water from the Flint River in 2014 to save money. But the regulators failed to make sure that the water was treated properly and lead from aging pipes leaked into Michigan's water supply.
For now, the crisis in Flint is still becoming a heated issue, especially in the presidential campaign. But amid the controversy, the bill would be paid for by redirecting up to $250 million from an Energy Department loan program approved in the 2009 economic stimulus law.
