{"id":8544,"date":"2025-02-05T13:15:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/chang\/?p=8544"},"modified":"2025-02-05T13:18:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:18:41","slug":"water-affordability-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Governor\u2019s proposal to address water affordability underscores importance of issue<\/i>\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n

LANSING, Mich. (Feb. 5, 2025) \u2014 Earlier today, State Budget Director Jen Flood presented Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s<\/b> 2025-26 fiscal year budget proposal and laid out her priorities to invest in Michiganders and lower costs for residents across the state. Among priorities outlined were plans to invest in state funding for water affordability, underscoring a pressing issue facing Michiganders around the state. To combat rising water costs and strengthen public health, Sen. Stephanie Chang<\/b> (D-Detroit) has spearheaded legislation that would create a statewide water affordability program and limit water shutoffs for Michiganders struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased to see Gov. Whitmer\u2019s inclusion of funding for water affordability in her proposed FY 2026 budget,\u201d said Sen. Chang<\/b>. \u201cWhether you have water coming out of your tap shouldn\u2019t depend on how much money you have or where you live in the state. From big cities to suburban towns and rural communities in every corner of our state, more and more Michiganders are struggling to pay their water bills. Michigan has made significant strides to provide water assistance, and now is the time for Michigan to invest strongly in water affordability solutions and pass bipartisan water affordability legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research by Public Sector Consultants shows that there are over 371,000 households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level in Michigan who would qualify for a water affordability program. More than 25% of seniors across the state need a water affordability solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe human body is made up of about 70% water. And so is Earth, the planet we call home. No one in the world, not even our world itself, can survive without water,\u201d\u00a0said Rep. Donovan McKinney<\/b> (D-Detroit), <\/b>sponsor of the House version of Senate Bill 550 of 2023. \u201cI believe everyone should have access to clean and affordable water because it is a human right. Thank you, Gov. Whitmer, for also including funding for water affordability. Once passed, Michigan will be the first state in the nation to have a statewide water affordability program. I am looking forward to doing everything we can to make this a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Bills 25 and 549-554 were introduced in 2023 by Sens. Chang<\/b>, Rosemary Bayer<\/b> (D-West Bloomfield), Jeff Irwin<\/b> (D-Ann Arbor), Paul Wojno <\/b>(D-Warren), and Mary Cavanagh<\/b> (D-Redford Twp.), along with House Bills 5088-5093 sponsored by Reps. Abraham Aiyash <\/b>(D- Hamtramck), Donovan McKinney<\/b>, Mike McFall<\/b> (D-Hazel Park) and Jimmie Wilson, Jr. <\/b>(D- Ypsilanti). This legislation sought to tackle rising water costs by putting measures in place to prevent water shutoffs and creating a low-income water residential affordability program within the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This program would have ensured that water bills do not exceed 3% of that household\u2019s income, with tiers developed for lower thresholds based on percentage of the federal poverty limit.<\/p>\n

To support the program, the package would have also created a statewide Low-Income Water Affordability Fund based on a $1.25\/meter monthly funding factor on water bills and philanthropic donations. Money collected from this method would then have been disbursed to providers and program administrators within that same region. This fund was modeled after the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP), for which every electric utility customer pays a small monthly fee to ensure that low-income households can get help with their energy bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. John Damoose <\/b>(R-Harbor Springs) added on to this legislative package by introducing Senate Bill 980 of 2024, which would create a task force representative of various municipal governments, environmental groups, and others representing rural, suburban and urban communities responsible for advising DHHS on best practices for administering the program, developing educational outreach, seeking funding, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense that in the Great Lakes State there would be people without access to affordable water,\u201d said Sen. Damoose<\/b>.\u00a0\u201cWe have been working on a water affordability plan for a long time now, and I am pleased to see this issue is also on the governor\u2019s radar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about last term\u2019s legislation at miwaterplan.com<\/a><\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
###<\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor\u2019s proposal to address water affordability underscores importance of issue\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 LANSING, Mich. (Feb. 5, 2025) \u2014 Earlier today, State Budget Director Jen Flood presented Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2025-26 fiscal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nLawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget - Senator Stephanie Chang<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Senator Stephanie Chang\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2121\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466\"},\"headline\":\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":750,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\",\"name\":\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget - Senator Stephanie Chang\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466\"},\"description\":\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg\",\"width\":2121,\"height\":1414,\"caption\":\"Money Down Drain Senator Chang\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/\",\"name\":\"Senator Stephanie Chang\",\"description\":\"Michigan Senate Democrats\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3da2887db706dfa8587baba5d85c3807e267a58764ccea2e0a413b3f0364806c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3da2887db706dfa8587baba5d85c3807e267a58764ccea2e0a413b3f0364806c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/senatedemssandbox.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget - Senator Stephanie Chang","description":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget","og_description":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/","og_site_name":"Senator Stephanie Chang","article_published_time":"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2121,"height":1414,"url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466"},"headline":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget","datePublished":"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/"},"wordCount":750,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg","articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/","name":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget - Senator Stephanie Chang","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-05T18:15:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-05T18:18:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466"},"description":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/02\/water-affordibility.jpg","width":2121,"height":1414,"caption":"Money Down Drain Senator Chang"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/2025\/02\/05\/water-affordability-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lawmakers Applaud Governor\u2019s Plan to Tackle Water Affordability in 2026 State Budget"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/","name":"Senator Stephanie Chang","description":"Michigan Senate Democrats","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3da2887db706dfa8587baba5d85c3807e267a58764ccea2e0a413b3f0364806c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3da2887db706dfa8587baba5d85c3807e267a58764ccea2e0a413b3f0364806c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/senatedemssandbox.com"],"url":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8544"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8548,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8544\/revisions\/8548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/chang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}