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Prospects for a comprehensive infrastructure package in Congress this year remain uncertain, but AMWA was part of a group of 91 national and regional water and environmental organizations that wrote to congressional leaders on January 10 to call for the inclusion of water project funding in any major infrastructure bill that moves forward.

The letter, which was sent to the top Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate, cited EPA estimates of future drinking water and wastewater investment needs and pointed to the quantifiable economic benefits of water infrastructure spending. It told congressional leaders that “an infrastructure package represents an excellent opportunity to provide necessary resources to meet long-term economic, public health and environmental goals.”

Last year Congress passed and President Trump signed America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, which included a host of AMWA-supported provisions like reauthorizations of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs, along with authorizations for several new water infrastructure programs targeted at specific purposes. Since passage of that law, AMWA has told congressional staff that a broad new infrastructure bill could serve as a means to deliver additional funding to each of these programs.

However, while members of Congress and President Trump had expressed interest following the November elections in the idea of producing a comprehensive infrastructure bill in 2019, enthusiasm cooled this year as the partial government shutdown dominated activity on Capitol Hill. While that matter has been resolved at least temporarily, it remains to be seen when work on new bipartisan legislative initiatives like an infrastructure package will get underway.