The congressional COVID cavalry isn’t coming to save the water sector
"Nobody got nothing to say about a 40-degree day."
The ink was barely dry on a $2 trillion coronavirus response law when Congress started working on a second massive coronavirus relief bill. Water infrastructure was initially high on the congressional priority list for the next phase, with rumors of perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars for water and sewer systems. Structured carefully, a massive infusion of federal funds could help end shutoffs that threaten public health, give immediate relief for utilities reeling from lost revenue, help spur economic recovery through investment in badly-needed infrastructure, and maybe even drive fundamental structural reforms to the water sector. There was palpable excitement in the water sector as legislation was taking shape in April and early May. I even fielded a few inquiries from policymakers looking for guidance on structuring the bill!
On May 15 the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) bill—an unprecedented $3 trillion package of programs to aid “the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses” in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The bill now sits in the Senate, its final shape and prospects uncertain.
The outcome probably won’t matter much for the water sector, however: the HEROES bill passed by the House provides next to nothing for water and sewer systems, and provisions for low-income water bill assistance are structured in a way that will mainly help customers in large utilities with existing assistance programs. That, my friends, is what Stringer Bell would call a 40-degree day.
Aid for utilities?
Back in late March I argued for a formulaic, conditional grant program that would channel $70 billion in federal assistance directly to utilities that agreed to end shutoffs, ensure service to all occupied residences, forgive financial penalties accrued during the pandemic, and restructure prices to maintain affordability. Grants would be based on the poverty rates of utilities’ service areas. The main merits of the conditional grant model are reach and speed: the program would help nearly everyone, minimize administrative costs to utilities, eliminate qualification processes, and get the water flowing fast to stave off a public health emergency. It would also provide an immediate and durable economic stimulus, as utilities could use these funds flexibly to support jobs and capital investment.
Unfortunately, HEROES provisions for water systems are all conditions and no grants. The bill requires water systems that receive HEROES funds to end shutoffs, safely restore service to customers who had been shut off, and forgive penalties (
).
And what do water and sewer utilities receive in exchange for giving up the main mechanism they have for ensuring timely payment? Limited subsidies for low-income assistance programs, and a boatload of administrative work (
).
That’s it. That’s all. HEROES includes no categorical grants to water or sewer systems.*
I've never identified so much with a gymnast.
Wither customer assistance?
For a few years now, House Democrats have been pushing for a $1.5 billion Low-Income Household Drinking Water and Wastewater Assistance Program (LIWAP?), a LIHEAP-style policy for water bill assistance. I’ve argued before that a LIHEAP-style program isn’t an awful idea but has some pretty severe limitations. Congress apparently heeded that warning, as §190703 retains the LIWAP label but doesn’t build a new LIHEAP-style program. Instead, it would channel funds through state and Tribal governments to utilities to support water and sewer bill reductions for low-income customers.
Allotments to utilities would be based on federal income and poverty guidelines. In addition to ending shutoffs, restoring service, and forgiving nonpayment penalties, utilities that receive bill assistance funds would be subject to audit. To its credit, the House bill seems to acknowledge administrative burdens on customers associated with such programs: §190703(g) requires utilities to “conduct outreach activities designed to ensure that such households are made aware of the rate assistance” and to notify customers of the assistance that they receive. HEROES allows utilities to spend up to 8% of federal funds on support for administrative processes, but participating utilities would also be subject to mandated state audits.
The main problem with this approach is that it puts significant administrative obligations on utilities with relatively little payoff. It is difficult to see why small or medium-sized water and sewer utilities would opt to participate in a program that carries such onerous requirements for a program that will in most cases benefit a small, politically weak minority of their customers. Why would utilities with little organizational capacity agree to heavy shackles with so few shekels? Unfortunately, water/sewer affordability is, on average, worse in smaller systems. HEROES is unlikely to do much for the nation’s neediest water customers.
San Antonio has a good assistance program, and HEROES could make it better.
The main beneficiaries of the $1.5 billion HEROES water assistance program will be large systems that already run assistance programs, since their administrative and audit processes are already in place.**
HEROES funding would allow those large utilities to expand or extend benefits, and maybe boost their administrative capacity.
HEROES act? More like ZEROES act, amirite?
I dunno, man. The bill is more than 1,800 pages and funds everything from unemployment insurance to suicide prevention to wildlife biosurveillance. I sure didn’t read the whole thing, and there’s undoubtedly a lot of good stuff in there. The direct cash benefits at the heart of the bill will surely help lots of people. But the HEROES bill that emerged from the House of Representatives does little for water affordability directly, doesn’t help water/sewer systems generally, and certainly does not provide sufficient leverage to achieve more fundamental reforms to the water sector. The bill does give members of Congress the chance to take a position on water affordability and claim credit for tackling shutoffs. Whatever its fate in the Senate, the HEROES bill has accomplished those political goals.
Systemic reforms to the U.S. water sector remain needed and possible, but will likely have to wait until COVID-19 recedes and a new Congress arrives.
*There’s one exception: HEROES allocates $20 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to support Tribal water provision, which really need help with capacity. More on this topic coming soon!
**Friends on Capitol Hill tell me that large utilities lobbied for this program.