Washington Monthly discussed why addressing compensation for the victims is crucial in anything done to improve the situation in Flint.
A coalition of 200 economic and civil rights experts recently sent a letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, asking for the creation of a “Health and Compensation Fund” for those affected by the crisis. The group proposes that the fund be modeled after the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which eventually paid out more than $7 billion to the survivors of the September 11 terror attacks.
As proposed, the Flint Victims Fund would cover residents’ claims for direct damages caused by lead-tainted water, as well as health screenings and treatment, research on the health and socioeconomic consequences of the crisis and outreach to potentially eligible residents. The experts, all of whom are members of the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative’s Experts of Color Network, include coalition organizer Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, president and CEO of the Center for Global Policy Solutions as well as the presidents of the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Association, the National Congress of American Indians and a variety of prominent scholars and researchers.
