Michigan Democrats introduce bills to guarantee water access for the state’s poor

The World Health Organization estimates that the average person needs 2.5–3 liters of clean water a day just to survive. Overall, water is so important that human beings will die within 3–5 days without it.

In many Michigan cities, though, it doesn’t matter how essential water is to life. If you can’t pay the bill, you’re on your own. On March 21, a group of Michigan state senators tried to fix the situation—again.

Before heading off for their spring break, the lawmakers—all Democrats—introduced three bills designed to address a water affordability crisis that goes well beyond Flint—and could potentially affect residents across the state.

First, Senate Bill 240 would create a water affordability program within the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, each separate municipal water authority offers its own affordability programs, with no state oversight to ensure that vulnerable residents can’t lose water service because of an inability to pay.

This patchwork approach is a clear failure. In Detroit alone, the city’s water department has taken service away from as many as 250,000 households, in a move that the United Nations condemned as a violation of those residents’ human rights.

from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/2CLaA8r