News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

Snyder signs budget bill with money for Flint water prosecutions

flicker user: kevin doncaster
/
https://flic.kr/p/FngqJn

Governor Rick Snyder has signed a spending bill that includes more money to prosecute members of his administration for their roles in the Flint water crisis.

As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the 600 thousand dollars will go to state Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office.

State Health and Human Services Department Director Nick Lyon and Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells are among those charged. They face manslaughter charges related to a fatal outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease.

Andrea Bitely is with the attorney general’s office. She says the money is being used for witness fees, travel, a computer system, and to pay special prosecutors.

The money comes from lawsuit settlements with the state, and goes to state Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office.

Bitely says the attorney general’s office expects to spend as much as seven million dollars in total on the Flint investigation and prosecutions. That does not include money allotted for defense attorneys for Governor Snyder and other state officials.