A bill to prescribe the powers and duties of certain providers of retail water service in this state; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state officers and entities; to prohibit certain acts and practices of providers of retail water service; and to provide for remedies and penalties for certain violations of this act.
The bills would create a Low-Income Water Residential Affordability Program (Program) to ensure that a customer who had a household income of up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or who was eligible for certain assistance programs did not pay more than 3% of the customer's household income on a water bill. The bills would create the Low-Income Water Residential Affordability Fund (Fund) and require customers who received water or sewage to pay a monthly $2 fee on each retail water meter to be deposited into the Fund for the Program's implementation; the Department of Treasury (DoT) could adjust the fee annually after three years. In addition, a water provider could implement its own Program that corresponded with the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Program. The bills would require providers and the Water Affordability Task Force to submit certain reports to the DHHS and the Legislature concerning funding factors and Program information. The bills would prohibit a provider from shutting off water services to a critical care customer and a customer enrolled in a Program within 120 days of delinquency and only after specified requirements were met. Customers that were unable to comply with a Program's requirements would have to undergo triage to prevent disenrollment and service shut off. The bills also would prohibit a person from tampering with a provider's service lines to restore water after a shut off because of an inability to pay and prescribe a civil fine, misdemeanor, or felony depending on the amount of damage arising out of a violation.
Co-sponsored by Sens.
Referred to the Committee on Housing and Human Services
