Ted Cruz's Flint Water Rescue 'Soft Hold' Has Been Dropped

Ted Cruz won't be holding up a Flint water aid bill meant to provide new infrastructure and piping in the Michigan city to help resolve its current drinking water crisis, his spokesman told the Dallas Morning News.

Cruz had put a "soft hold" on the legislation, preventing it from coming to the floor, according to Politico, but Cruz spokesman Phil Novack said the senator will allow it to now move forward, said the Morning News.

"He just needed the time to read the bill first before knowing what he was signing on to," said Novack.

Politico said Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also has a hold on the Flint bill.

The bill, totaling $220 million, would help pay for new infrastructure and piping to replace corroded water lines in Flint. 

MLive.com reported the bill includes $100 million for the federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund which makes available subsidized loans and grants to states having an emergency declaration due to a public health threat, 

Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow earlier questioned the wisdom of Cruz's hold while on the campaign trail.

"We have heard that (about Cruz's hold) and not a very smart move for a man who's going to be in a primary in Michigan on March 8," Stabenow told Politico. "And in Michigan this is a hugely bipartisan nonpartisan issue that everybody cares about."

Flint's drinking water crisis began in 2014 when the town began pumping water from the Flint River instead of taking water from Detroit, noted the Morning News. The untreated water from the Flint River caused corrosion of Flint's water pipes, leading to high levels of lead coming into residential and business plumbing.

Stabenow told MLive.com that the legislation provides debt forgiveness, which could lead to $20 million in past Flint loans being relieved.

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