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Issue pack

Clean Water

"Safe water is not optional."

Nobody is against clean water, which is exactly what makes water bills instructive. The fight is never over the goal; it's over the price tag, the bond issue, and whose rates go up.

A transparency-and-testing mandate is cheap and passable. Replacing every lead service line in the state is a generational investment that wakes up every fiscal hawk in the building. Same issue, opposite politics.

The 2 bills you can carry

Same issue, different ambition, and ambition is what the legislature makes you pay for.

Mandatory Water Testing

"The Clean Water Transparency Act"

Difficulty: Approachable Impact: Medium

Require quarterly testing of public water systems with public reporting.

"We've lost four children in my county. Lead. Every year it's lead."

— Rita, rural nurse
Why it can pass
  • Hard to argue against transparency.
  • Cheap to implement.
Why it might not
  • Doesn't fix what the testing reveals.
  • Small utilities will claim the cost is crushing.

Water Infrastructure Overhaul

"The Safe Water for Every Home Act"

Difficulty: Uphill Impact: High

Replace lead service lines statewide within 10 years, funded by bond issue.

"There is no safe level of lead. Zero. We know this."

— Dr. Amena Cole, pediatric toxicologist
Why it can pass
  • Visible, permanent impact.
  • Construction jobs appeal to labor.
Why it might not
  • Billion-dollar price tag.
  • Utilities will fight the cost allocation.