The legislative committee looking into the Flint water crisis is done with hearings and is going to work on a set of recommendations. The hearings wrapped up without appearances by Gov. Rick Snyder, senior aides, or former emergency managers.
Democratic State Rep. Jeff Irwin says they should have been called to testify.
"I think for this committee to have credibility, we needed to hear from the governor, we needed to hear from the emergency managers, we needed to hear from the people who were central to this crisis, and we haven’t,” Irwin said.
Republican State Sen. Jim Stamas chairs the committee. He says it was not necessary to call them to testify. He says the committee is looking for solutions, not to cast blame. He says they might also have refused because of lawsuits and criminal investigations.
"The investigations are still ongoing for accountability, but with the amount of information this committee’s received, I think Flint residents deserve the opportunity for solutions to begin, so I wanted to move forward with that,” Stamas said.
Stamas says Snyder’s testimony before Congress is part of the committee record.
He says the committee recommendations will likely focus on infrastructure investment and changes to Michigan’s emergency manager law.
