Friend,

The latest numbers show that people of color, especially Black people, are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the reasons behind this horrifying news: Governments are shutting off people’s access to water because they can’t afford to pay bills.

This is outrageous anytime, but it’s especially unconscionable during a pandemic, where people desperately need to wash their hands in order to slow down COVID-19’s deadly spread.

So I helped lead 80 U.S. Representatives to push for an immediate nationwide ban on water shutoffs, and now community groups across the country are joining the call. We need to act now to save people’s lives. Can you join us and add your name to the urgent petition?

Sign the petition now to state and federal elected leaders: Immediately pass a moratorium on all water shut-offs and restore water access for everyone.

Always serving you,

Rashida

P.S. Please read my prior email below for more information.

Friend,

Shutting off water access during a pandemic is dangerous and unconscionable. If people don’t have clean running water, they can’t wash their hands, which is the most effective way to protect themselves and their communities from the deadly spread of COVID-19.

Here in Michigan, we just had an important victory: MI Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order requiring a moratorium on water shutoffs and reconnecting water service for households whose water service has been shut off. It's critical that the federal government and other states follow Michigan's lead.

Sign now to tell elected leaders: During the COVID-19 pandemic, stop water shutoffs and restore water access immediately.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated our national crisis of water insecurity, where an estimated 15 million Americans—that’s 1 out of every 20 households—are going without running water, mainly because they can’t afford to pay for it.

Water is a basic human need and a right, but now more than ever, people need clean, safe water running from their faucets. Thousands more people will die if we don't address water shutoffs across the country.

That’s why my colleagues and I fought hard to include a ban on utility shutoffs in the U.S. House of Representatives’ latest COVID-19 stimulus package. We also allocated $1.5 billion to help pay low-income families’ water bills. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans blocked this in their version of the bill, which ultimately got signed into law.

So we led 80 U.S. Representatives to push for an immediate nationwide ban on water shutoffs. But now we need your help to show that the public demands this, too.

Sign now to tell elected leaders: Immediately stop water shutoffs and restore water access for all Americans.

In our community, neighbors have gone for years without water in their homes, which is itself a human rights violation and public health crisis. People need clean running water not only to drink and wash their hands, but also to cook food, bathe, flush toilets, and more.

But during a pandemic, keeping people's water shut off is especially outrageous. And due to the fact that folks are water hoarding, the grassroots community groups fighting for water justice haven’t been able to find even their usual allotments of bottled water to get to people who need it.

So until water service is restored, governments must also open public water distribution stations, where people and community groups can pick up free water and also deliver it to people who can’t come pick it up themselves.

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, families who still haven’t recovered from the Great Recession were living paycheck to paycheck. Across the country, declining federal investment in water infrastructure led local governments to pass water costs onto ratepayers, so people’s water bills have skyrocketed. But wages have stagnated, leaving many families struggling to pay bills and put food on the table.

And communities of color have long been on the front lines of environmental injustices, which has led to more chronic health conditions like asthma that make people even more susceptible to contracting and dying from COVID-19.

We need immediate action so the most vulnerable among us can take the necessary steps to safeguard themselves. We need to act now to save people’s lives. And we must fix our water systems long-term, so all Americans can access safe drinking water.

If we raise our voices loud enough together, I know we can make the change we need.

Sign the petition now to state and federal elected leaders: Immediately pass a moratorium on all water shut-offs and restore water access for everyone whose service has been cut off.

In love and solidarity,

Rashida

P.S. If you’re free tonight, I’m joining other Squad members in Congress, along with healthcare and manufacturing union workers, for a live Q&A from 7-8 pm ET about the fight at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here at 7pm ET to watch the livestream on Facebook.