LANSING, MI, MARCH 7, 2019 -- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is proposing $120 million in new general fund spending to improve drinking water infrastructure in the state, according to MLive.
Whitmer proposed the money for drinking water infrastructure alongside her $60.2 billion fiscal 2020 budget, requesting supplemental funding when the 2019 fiscal year ends in September.
The money would be used to replace lead service lines, fund research and treatment for toxic PFAS chemicals and other emerging contaminants, forgive water utility loans, fund watershed management and water distribution research, according to the state budget office.
Another $60 million was requested by Whitmer from the School Aid Fund to install filtered drinking water stations in schools.
The Governor called clean drinking water a "fundamental human right" in a recent presentation to a joint state senate and house appropriations committee hearing.
