SIGN OUR JOINT PETITION WITH RASHIDA TLAIB NOW:

"Stop water shutoffs during the pandemic!"[ [link removed] ]add your name

John,

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.

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.

[ [link removed] ]Sign now to tell elected leaders: Immediately stop water shutoffs and
restore water access for all Americans.[ [link removed] ]Sign on now

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.

[ [link removed] ]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.

[ [link removed] ]Add your name

In love and solidarity,

-Rashida

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
Congressional District 13




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