Governor to Appeal President’s Decision

Liz Gullett

Jan 22, 2016

On Wednesday, Governor Rick Snyder submitted an appeal to President Barack Obama on his denial of declaring Flint a major disaster and his $96 million request for assistance. In the appeal, the Governor points to the severity of the disaster as the reason why this warrants special consideration for all categories under the Individual and Public Assistance Programs. He said that this disaster is similar in scope to a flood, given that the water caused damage to infrastructure in ways that are not immediately detectable and that health problems and economic loss will last for years, and potentially decades. “The situation in Flint is a disaster and in need of a federal declaration,” Governor Snyder said. “This situation poses an imminent and long-term threat to the people of Flint. We appreciate the support of the White House through the earlier emergency declaration. But additional federal resources are needed for the work that must be done.” While the President denied the request for major disaster declaration, he did approve an emergency declaration on January 16, 2016 and on January 21 said the federal government was sending $80 million to assist the state in dealing with the crisis.

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