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Please take a moment and send an email directly to Governor Kay Ivey asking her to direct sufficient funding to affected water utilities in Alabama to offset revenue losses from delinquent low-income customer accounts.
A sample letter is ready for you to personalize to the right.
SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR LETTER:
Governor Ivey recently extended the “Safer at Home” order for all Alabamians through November 8, 2020, which mandates public use of masks, social distancing practices, and other measures to fight COVID-19, which continues to infect and take the lives of Alabamians.
As the “Safer at Home” order recognizes, washing hands frequently with soap and water is one of the most important steps individuals can take to combat the spread of COVID-19. Of course, access to clean water is necessary for people to comply with this order.
Unfortunately, due to the economic consequences of the pandemic, many Alabamians have been unable to keep up with water utility bills and are now facing water utility shut-offs, which only threaten to make it harder for low-income communities to protect themselves from the virus.
In the Birmingham area alone, 12,000 customer accounts are behind on payments, and the Birmingham Water Works Board is beginning to disconnect customers for their inability to pay. Early in the pandemic, Ivey's administration made the decision to leave it up to individual utilities to decide whether, how, and when to handle shut-offs during a public health crisis. Water utilities around the state are now grappling with how to assist struggling customers while continuing to run financially responsible operations. Many are spending more time working one-on-one with customers facing COVID-19 hardship, but many are also proceeding with water shut-offs.
CARES Act Funding Can Be Used to Extinguish the Threat of Water Shut-Offs While Helping Water Utilities Economically Recover
The state of Alabama has received $1.9 billion in federal aid under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to respond to the pandemic and help those affected. Under Alabama Act 2020-199, $300 million of CARES Act funding can be used to support impacted citizens and businesses. These funds are already being used by the Governor’s Office to assist industries throughout Alabama that have been hurt by the pandemic. The timber industry recently received $10 million of CARES Act funding from the state. Governor Ivey also approved $10 million of CARES Act funding for a marketing and advertising campaign to help Alabama’s tourism industry recover.
The Alabama Rivers Alliance and our undersigned partners asks that Governor Ivey direct sufficient funding to affected water utilities in Alabama to offset revenue losses from delinquent low-income customer accounts. As a condition of this funding, utilities should issue a moratorium on water shut-offs until three months after the state of emergency has been lifted and forgive customer debts incurred during the pandemic. Funding allocated must be adequate to cover these costs.
Taking these actions will:
Please ask Governor Ivey to consider the necessity of clean water and what it means for people to be without it during a public health crisis.
Alabama Rivers Alliance
Alabama Arise
Alabama Coastal Foundation
Alabama Interfaith Power and Light
Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership
Black Warrior Riverkeeper
Cahaba River Society
Cahaba Riverkeeper
Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe & Sustainable Community, Inc.
Conservation Alabama
Dynamite Hill-Smithfield Community Land Trust
Energy Alabama
Faith and Works Statewide Civic Engagement Collective
Faith in Action Alabama
Flint River Conservation Association
Friends of the Locust Fork River
Friends of Turkey Creek Nature Preserve
GASP
Greater Birmingham Ministries
Little River Waterkeeper
SWEET Alabama
Tennessee Riverkeeper
The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
The Children's Policy Cooperative of Jefferson County
Village Creek Society
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