February 28, 2014
Leadership and Members
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative,
We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to co-sign the bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter being circulated by Reps. Mike Doyle and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania that asks that a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) be included in the final Water Resources Reform and Development Act now under discussion in a House-Senate conference.
As you may already know, a WIFIA would provide low-interest loans or loan guarantees to help communities across the country replace, rehabilitate or upgrade their water infrastructure. Because this is a loan program, there would be no net impact on the U.S. Treasury.
As local governments continue to recover from the economic downturn, they continue to make a difficult decisions on how to prioritize their limited financial resources. WIFIA presents an opportunity to keep the costs of water infrastructure replacement low for local water suppliers, and consequently their consumers, and to support our nation’s aging water infrastructure challenges.
Again, we urge you to co-sign the Dear Colleague supporting WIFIA. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Tom Curtis
Deputy Executive Director for Government Affairs
American Water Works Association
202 628-8303
David L. Reynolds
Director of Federal Relations
Association of California Water Agencies
202 434-4760
Diane VanDe Hei
Executive Director
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies
202 331-2820
Carolyn S. Berndt
Principal Associate for Infrastructure & Sustainability
National League of Cities
202 626-3101
Tim Williams
Senior Director, Government Affairs
Water Environment Federation
703 684-2437
Judy Sheahan
Assistant Executive Director
U.S. Conference of Mayors
202 861-6775