Donald Wiggins Jr., October 27, 2017
Across our great state, many municipalities are running into a very serious issue. Ohio’s water and sewer infrastructure is in dire need of repair. Our drinking water is at risk, and municipalities don’t have the resources to address our water challenges. However necessary the repairs and safeguards, the cost of repairs must not deny low-income Ohioans access to drinking water.
Ohio’s low-income families are often the hardest impacted population when water and sewer rates increase. In Ohio, an estimated 1,674,000 people live in poverty and 39 of Ohio’s 88 counties–approximately 44%– are above the average poverty rate.
Unfortunately, there is no federal program that assists Ohio’s most-vulnerable families from the increasing financial burden that can accompany water facility updates.
BUT there is hope on the horizon for Ohioans! The Low Income Water Customer Assistance Pilot Program Act will create a pilot program to provide financial assistance to low-income families and communities.
We need your help to pass this act! During a time of strained budgets and competing financial priorities, now more than ever, it is important Ohioans demand affordable access to safe, clean, trustworthy drinking water and wastewater services for all.
Make your voice heard! No family should go a day without drinking water, a hot shower, and a working toilet, but that could be the reality for 1.6 million of Ohio’s most vulnerable people.
Call U.S. Senators Rob Portman and ask them to co-sponsor the Low Income Water Customer Assistance Pilot Program Act.