With lives hanging in the balance, time is running out for the Michigan Legislature to pass a bill desperately needed to protect people throughout the state—especially during a global pandemic.
Right now, the Water Shut Off Protection Act (Senate Bill 241) is before state lawmakers, who are wrapping up their 2020 session in just a few days. This legislation, if passed, would keep water on across the state through the end of March for people who can’t afford to pay their bill. Water shutoffs endanger people and the communities they live in during the best of times. But during the COVID-19 crisis, which can be stemmed in part by frequent handwashing, keeping water flowing into homes is essential.
If the Legislature fails to act before the current session ends on December 17, one of the people whose well-being could be placed in jeopardy is Detroit homeowner Jacqueline Taylor.
In 2016, Ms. Taylor, who is retired and lives on $860 a month in Social Security payments, was placed in a rehabilitation center for a lengthy stay following hip replacement surgery. After returning home, Ms. Taylor received a bill from DWSD for water usage totaling about 75,000 gallons while she was away – despite the fact that no one was living in her home and no water was being used. In mid-2018, with the city claiming she owed nearly $6,000 in arrearages, her water was cut off. She struggled to survive for nearly two years on store-bought bottled water and water delivered to her by a local nonprofit group.
Ms. Taylor’s water service was finally restored in March when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, responding to the COVID-19 crisis, issued an executive order halting shutoffs throughout the state and mandating that service be restored to people who had previously lost service.
“To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, protect the public health, and avoid needless deaths, it is crucial that all Michiganders remain in their homes or residences to the greatest extent possible and wash their hands thoroughly and regularly. Now more than ever, the provision of clean water to residences is essential to human health and hygiene, and to the public health and safety of this state,” Gov. Whitmer stated in the order.
In July, she issued a new order that extended the moratorium on shutoffs through the end of this year. However, in a 4-3 ruling issued by the Michigan Supreme Court in October, the court determined that Gov. Whitmer had violated her constitutional authority by continuing to issue orders to combat COVID-19 without the Legislature’s approval.
While the governor’s authority has been reined in, the coronavirus’ reign of terror continues. This Wednesday, Michigan officials reported 9,350 new cases and 93 additional deaths, bringing the death toll statewide to 9,947.
Just as COVID-19 knows no bounds, the prospect of water shut offs isn’t limited to cities like Detroit where Ms. Taylor lives.
“According to data reported to DHHS [Department of Health and Human Services] by municipal water systems, water bills for 317,631 households throughout the state had fallen into arrears since March 1, 2020. Based upon an average household size of 2.49 per household, this equates to approximately 800,000 Michiganders — or about 8 percent of the state’s population — who are water insecure,” Janet Meissner Pritchard, interim legal director for the Traverse City-based nonprofit group FLOW, reported in an October blog.
Highlighting the far-reaching threat resumption of shut offs poses to communities throughout the state, a “16-member assembly of water rights, social justice and environmental organizations and impacted Michigan residents urged Michigan’s Senators to take up and pass, as soon as possible, a bill that would protect public health by ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all during a global pandemic,” according to a posting on the Michigan Environmental Council’s web site.
“This is not just a single-city issue; this is an issue across the state, from city centers to suburbs to small towns and villages,” wrote Charlotte Jameson, program director for drinking water, legislative affairs and energy for Michigan Environmental Council. “When water is shut off, not only can people not drink, bathe or wash their hands, they can be exposed to water contamination from corroded and damaged residential plumbing systems due to disuse.”
The Water Shut Off Protection Act would require water utilities to turn water service back on to all customers and reinstate the moratorium on shutoffs. Immediate passage of the legislation is crucial. It is, however, only a stopgap measure as it would expire March 31.
READ LETTER TO MICHIGAN SENATORS URGING THEM TO PASS THE WATER SHUT OFF PROTECTION ACT
Although the passage of this legislation is crucial, as my colleague Mark Fancher pointed out in an opinion piece published in the Detroit Free Press earlier this year, the same logic that dictates water should keep flowing to protect public health during the coronavirus outbreak needs to be adhered to at all times:
“While the toll taken by COVID-19 brings a centuries-old scientific fact to the forefront of our thinking, the same science applied before the current outbreak. And it will certainly apply once this pandemic is finally behind us.”
That is why the ACLU of Michigan, working with a coalition of civil rights organizations, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in July to make water affordable for all Detroiters, and to permanently end water shutoffs in the city.
At the core of that lawsuit is a proposed mandate that would link water rates to a household’s income. Something as essential to life – and public health – as water should not be restricted to only those who are financially well-off. Tying rates to income is the only way to assure water remains affordable for everyone.
That’s a concept Ms. Taylor, who is a named plaintiff in our class action lawsuit, fully supports.
“If my water were to be shut off now, it would put me in a truly dire situation,” she says. “But I am just one of many, many people dealing with the issue of being able to afford something that is absolutely vital to the health of all of us. We all need water to wash our bodies, and we all need water to stay alive. That is why it needs to be affordable for everyone.”
She is praying that happens.
The immediate concern, however, is that no one loses access to water while this deadly pandemic continues to rage. For that to happen, the Michigan legislature must take immediate action and pass the Water Shut Off Protection Act. Please help us send a message to state lawmakers: Water is a human right, pass the Water Shut Off Protection Act now.
Tell Michigan lawmakers: Pass the Water Shut Off Protection Act now