The $23 million — enough money to supply Flint with bottled water until all lead and galvanized service lines have been removed and replaced — does not include updated costs for attorneys provided to three former emergency managers, an expense neither the city nor the state have agreed to fully pay and which remains a point of negotiation. . . . Included in the total is $6.2 million appropriated by the state Legislature for Attorney General Bill Schuette’s criminal prosecution of 11 remaining water crisis defendants, $6.1 million for civil and criminal attorneys at the DEQ, $5.7 million in invoices for the office of Gov. Rick Snyder, and $4.7 million for DHHS. (Flint Journal)

Jack Lessenberry: “Knowing they are unlikely to prevail at the polls, Republicans are trying to beat Voters Not Politicians in the courts. A GOP front group called Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution has asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to keep it off the ballot. . . . If those in favor of rigging the system are able to use the courts to thwart them, what will that do for faith in democracy?” (Toledo Blade)

Worried about having a proposal on the November ballot that would legalize recreational use of marijuana, Republicans in the state Senate are working on a plan to vote on the citizen petition and tie it to a cut in the state income tax. . . . Keeping the initiative off the November ballot would be a plus for Republicans because the measure is expected to drive up voter turnout, especially among young voters, which could fuel a blue wave that could flip the Republican majority in the House to Democrats and significantly narrow the 27-10 GOP majority in the Senate. . . . Democrats have said they won’t support passing marijuana legalization in the Legislature because they want voters to determine the outcome and they don’t want the proposal amended. “Either way, we’re not on board,” said Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint. (Detroit Free Press)

“Stop telling people two different things,” [Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint] said Thursday, noting the Snyder administration has struggled to rebuild trust in Flint, where residents were told tainted water was safe to drink after the city temporarily switched to Flint River water in April 2014. “It may be meeting some federal standard that the governor has called dumb and dangerous, but if there are serious problems that could happen now or in the future, then the system needs to be fixed,” Ananich said. (Detroit News)

“The politicians that have been in office can’t win the general election. . . . They won’t win the general election because I believe that the Democrats will eat them alive over Flint water and a number of other issues where it’s obvious that the politics of the situation came before the people,” [Jim] Hines said. “The next governor of the state of Michigan is either going to be a true outsider who was not in office during the Flint water crisis, or it will be a Democrat.” (Detroit Free Press)

Nancy Kaffer: “Live in Detroit? You’re out of luck. . . . The same is true in Flint and the state’s other struggling cities. Get that? Rural residents of up-north counties with high unemployment are protected; urban Michiganders who live in high-unemployment cities in more prosperous counties are left to twist. . . . “Every one of these reasons to deny you healthcare kills people,” Paul Propson, CEO of Covenant Community Care in Detroit, a primary health care provider that sees 20,000 patients with Medicaid benefits or no insurance coverage each year, told me last month. “It might only kill 10 people or 50 people or 100 people, but when there are delays in accessing health care, there are victims.” (Detroit Free Press)

Nolan Finley: “If there was any doubt about who owns today’s Republican Party, new polling confirms the Grand Old Party is firmly in the hands of Donald Trump. . . . A poll of Michigan Republican voters finds a solid majority of party regulars say their loyalties rest with Trump and not with the party itself or its expressed values. When asked whether they considered themselves to be more a supporter of Trump or of the party, 50.3 percent of state Republicans said the president, while just 39 percent picked the party. . . . The results should help answer some questions for those baffled that Republican candidates are standing by the president, despite his overall low approval ratings and persistent erratic behavior. Simple answer: Republicans can’t win a GOP primary without him.” (Detroit News)

“The Michigan Democratic Party mirrors our population as a state and reflects our values as a people in a way that puts our opponents to shame. But we must do more than strive to be better than what we oppose. We have to raise the bar so high that our truth becomes their reality. If we’re going to represent our entire state in government, it is essential the hardworking people of Michigan — every race, background, religion, and experience — be represented and have a voice in our party.” — Lavora Barnes, Chief Operating Officer for the Michigan Democratic Party (Detroit News)

Colbeck: “The first and most impactful accomplishment to date was leading the effort to restore the freedom of assembly to rank and file workers throughout our state and make Michigan the 24th Right to Work state in the nation.” (Colderwater Daily Reporter)

NOTE: All four of the Republicans pictured support Right To Work For Less

Colbeck defends anti-Muslim comments: “The organizations who share the professed goals of the Muslim Brotherhood to destroy our nation from within are real, not theoretical. They are active today in our communities and in our universities throughout Michigan.” (Detroit News)