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Action Please By:
February 5, 2010

NACWA members are being urged to contact their Senators to press for $4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) as part of the “Jobs for Main Street” package.

On Wednesday, December 16 the House of Representatives approved the “Jobs for Main Street” package. The package contained $2 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure, including $1 billion for the CWSRF. In the coming weeks, NACWA will be working with Senate leadership to increase funding in the Senate’s version of the bill. To be successful in this effort it is critical for NACWA’s public members and affiliates to contact their Senators and communicate the importance of including the water and wastewater sector in any jobs package Congress may enact. As the effort with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program demonstrated, the number of water and wastewater infrastructure projects waiting for financing at the state level outstripped the available funding often by a factor of three. NACWA will continue to monitor the implementation of SRF funds made available by ARRA through the February 17th deadline and will seek to apply positive outcomes and lessons learned from the first round of funding to any additional job creation effort.

If Congress does enacts a jobs package, it will be an opportunity to inject more funding into the SRF programs so that more wastewater projects can go to construction and create jobs locally.

We expect the Senate to consider the jobs package at the end of January and we urge you to call your Senators, and/or fax or email the attached letter  to their Washington, DC office for consideration as part of the “Jobs for Main Street” package as soon as possible.

Should you have any questions regarding NACWA’s efforts or what should be discussed during your conversations please contact Pat Sinicropi or John Krohn at 202.833.2672.