Dingell, Tlaib lead charge with new low-income water affordability legislation

FOX 2 - Two Democratic congresswomen are working on the first-ever permanent, federal low-income water affordability program at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The cost of the water in your home has been on the rise and for some families, making ends meet can be very difficult.

Shawn McElmurry Professor and Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Wayne State University, says new proposed federal legislation could help with that.

"It addresses a gap that was missing before," he said.

"This is a national crisis, it’s not just here in Michigan," said US Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib along with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell are sponsors on the legislation called the H2O UP Act for short, which would put $10 billion dollars a year for the next 10 years towards drinking water affordability.

But some urban centers like Detroit have substantial water affordability programs already. McElmurry explained how this would be different.

"This particular funding is targeted for individuals and communities that aren’t being captured by those other groups," he said.

"Water is life," said Tlaib. "We can’t allow families to get their water shut off. There was a story of two individuals in their 70s, retired. It was on the cover, I don't know of what outlet, when I read it, I just couldn't stop crying because he was like 72 or something years old, and he was using a white bucket to melt snow in it, so that he could use it to flush his toilet.

There are already similar programs for gas and electricity at the federal level. Tlaib says this is long overdue.

"Why can’t we also create a program for water that is as critical than any program," she said.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "What about the critic who says we can’t afford $20 billion a year for this?"

"If we can seem to find billions of dollars to support bombs and weapons being sent over to kill children in Gaza," she said. "But we can’t seem to find money and resources for our families here."

The bill was just introduced, so it’s got a long way to go before even having a shot at becoming law.