This week, U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) introduced legislation to ensure affordable access to clean water for families across the country. The lawmakers highlighted the need to address rising water costs and prevent service shutoffs that disproportionately affect low-income households.
The congresswomen are leading the Water Access Act and Water Access and Affordability Act, pieces of legislation that would provide $500 million in funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The bills would help eligible households pay their water and wastewater bills, ensuring more Americans can maintain access to safe and reliable water services.
ICYMI, media coverage of their legislative effort can be found below:
Michigan Public: Reps. Tlaib and Dingell promote bill to create a assistance program for water utility costs
- Representatives Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib joined water access advocates on Tuesday to draw attention to a bill they re-introduced in April that would create a permanent fund for help with water bills.
- Water costs have been rising across the state, as federal investment in water systems has plummeted according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan. In 2023, outstanding water bills nearly brought the city of Highland Park to declare municipal bankruptcy.
- “No person should have to decide whether they pay their water bill or buy groceries," Dingell said. "No senior living on a fixed income should worry that turning on the faucet could mean falling behind on their medication, and no child should ever come home to a house without running water because their family couldn't keep up.”
- Dingell said she’s pushing for her colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee to consider the measure.
Michigan Advance: Congresswomen emphasize water as a human right in push to renew COVID-era water assistance program
- Speaking at a Dearborn Heights press conference Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) relied heavily on the framework of water as a human right in explaining the need for their two new bills that would establish a permanent federal assistance program for low-income households to pay for water.
- Dingell emphasized the national need for this program, which would serve states and families across party lines and across the country. “That’s why we’re going to keep working on this and reminding our colleagues in Congress, we have to get this done for every one of their constituents,” she said. “Water doesn’t care if somebody’s Republican or Democrat, they’re just kids, they’re just seniors, they’re people that need that helping hand.”
- Dingell also referenced rising utility rates in Michigan and nationwide as a further reason why a federal program such as this is necessary.
WEMU: Reps. Dingell, Tlaib lead legislation to protect water access for low-income families
- U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced legislation Tuesday that would direct millions to help low-income families with their water bills. The legislation calls for $500 million to be directed to the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) to help struggling families pay for their water and wastewater bills and prevent shutoffs.
- U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell says the water assistance program was essential during the pandemic and is the first-ever federal water assistance program to help low-income households.
- “Too many families in Michigan and across this country are finding that rising costs are turning something that is essential, a basic human right, into another source of economic anxiety and hard choices.”
Planet Detroit: Dingell, Tlaib urge permanent federal water assistance: ‘A basic human right’
- U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) are backing legislation that would create universal drinking water access for low-income households and provide $500 million for a COVID-era federal water assistance program.
- Dingell and Tlaib reintroduced the Water Access and Affordability Act in April. It would provide $20 billion annually for 10 years for a low-income water affordability program at the Environmental Protection Agency.
- This legislation includes automatic enrollment in access programs and measures to reduce enrollment burdens; assistance for low-income households; a prohibition on water service disconnections and associated fees; and provisions for equitable treatment of owner-occupied households and rental households, among other measures.
CBS Detroit: Detroit organization, lawmakers fight for low-income water assistance program
- Michigan Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell secured federal funding for the low-income water affordability program (LAWA) during that time, bringing relief to more than 30,000 households in Michigan.
- More than 170,000 households experienced water shut-offs between 2014 and 2020, according to the community organization, We the People of Detroit.
- Michigan Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell secured federal funding for the low-income water affordability program (LAWA) during that time, bringing relief to more than 30,000 households in Michigan.
- "We cannot let any household in this country go without running water, and I'm bound and determined to do that. And if I have to, I'll go talk to Donald Trump myself, and he hates me," Dingell said.
