LANSING — After 357 days of inaction by legislative Republicans on a Democratic proposal to strengthen drinking water standards for PFAS, the House Natural Resources Committee took testimony today on the state’s ongoing PFAS crisis but refused to act on a plan to address it. House Bill 5375 was introduced by state Rep. Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) in December 2017 and has sat untouched in that committee ever since. In response to today’s hearing, Rep. Brinks issued the following statement:
“In lame-duck session, as a legislative body, we have taken up more than 80 bills per day in committee and Republicans in the full House have passed many newly introduced bills at lightening speed. Though today we finally took the first step in simply discussing this issue after nearly a year of inaction by legislative Republicans, Michigan families deserve more than talk — they deserve action. For too long, communities throughout the state have been unable to trust the safety of their drinking water as PFAS contamination continues to be discovered. Instead of spending the last month of session cutting wages, watering down benefits for working families, preempting local control, and weakening the authority of the incoming Democratic administration, Republicans should be focusing on the things that improve the quality of life for every Michigander, and that starts with clean, safe drinking water.”
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