While the State of Emergency in Flint, Michigan has ended, the costs of moving forward are just beginning to be tallied up. Now that the federal government isn’t going to continue to pay for the criminal negligence on the part of state officials, it begins to fall back on the state of Michigan to pay the estimated $3.5 million a month costs this water crisis accrued. Of course, those costs don’t include the legal fees being rung up hourly, to defend Governor Rick Snyder and his fellow incompetents.
Snyder will tell the State Administrative Board on Aug. 30 that he is raising the spending caps on contracts for two law firms representing his office against civil lawsuits related to Flint water — enough to cover $3.4 million in billings so far, the governor's press secretary said.
In addition, Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health and Human Services representatives said they have spent an additional $1.6 million for lawyer fees related to Flint as of Aug. 1.
Carry the “1” and you’ve got yourself a clean five million. The best part? All this lawyering hasn’t even gotten to a hearing worth a damn.
There has yet to be a single substantive hearing on the criminal charges brought by Schuette in district court. If prosecutors provide sufficient evidence to establish that there is probable cause to believe that felonies have been committed and that the defendants committed them, the cases will shift into Genesee County Circuit Court for more hearings and appearances.
The expenses being collected include former officials who have since resigned. Gov. Snyder is making sure they are getting their asses covered as well.
Anna Heaton, Snyder's press secretary, said in an email Friday, Aug. 19, that the governor's office will notify the State Administrative Board of the rising legal fees, increasing caps on contracts for Barris Sott from $400,000 to $1.4 million and for Warner Norcross from $800,000 to $2 million.
Democrats are saying that Gov. Snyder is using the state coffers as his own private checkbook to cover up his and his cohorts’ malfeasance, and while that’s true, it’s probably legal for him to drain the state’s funds. Hopefully a few conservative voters will remember how much fiscal conservatism really costs, and change their votes in the future.