Members of the House and Senate will be in their home states and districts for nearly the entire month of August, offering excellent opportunities for water utility officials to interact with their elected officials and make their policy priorities known.
As currently scheduled, the August recess for the House of Representatives and Senate will stretch from August 4 through the week of Labor Day, with members returning to Washington on September 10. Congressional representatives and senators are generally happy to meet with local constituents and officials to discuss policy priorities while in their home districts, so AMWA members are encouraged to schedule meetings to talk about current issues or to invite representatives and senators to water facilities to educate them about the work that utilities do.
Among the issues water utility representatives may wish to discuss with their members of Congress include legislation to facilitate the electronic distribution of annual consumer confidence reports and a proposed “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act” (WIFIA) that would offer low-cost loan capital to large water projects. Utility officials may also wish to discuss local issues of interest or particular opportunities or challenges facing local drinking water systems in their state or district.
If you would like help scheduling a meeting with a congressional representative or staff, or would like samples of AMWA’s one-page issue briefs on these and other drinking water policy issues, please contact AMWA’s Dan Hartnett at [email protected].