For Immediate Release
Contact: Madeline Kauffman
Vice President
Banner Public Affairs
mkauffman@bannerpublicaffairs.com
202-750-7509
Last week, the Senate approved topline numbers for the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Interior-Environment appropriations bill, which funds EPA water infrastructure programs. This topline figure includes approximately $8.5 billion in cuts compared to the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives advanced its Interior-Environment bill out of committee, including a reduction of over $600 million in funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Programs compared to the previous fiscal year. If the House’s bill is enacted, this would reduce the SRFs to their lowest annual appropriation since Fiscal Year 2017 and would only provide 32 percent of the authorized level of funding.
“The cuts to water funding proposed in the House are unacceptable, and the potential for similar cuts in the Senate bill given recently released topline numbers are concerning,” said Mae Stevens, CEO of the American Business Water Coalition, a coalition of water reliant businesses working to increase federal funding for water infrastructure. “Congress should be increasing funding to match the growing level of need across the nation, not cutting funding for water infrastructure that is so critical to our economy. The American Business Water Coalition (ABWC) urges Congress to include robust water funding in a final FY25 appropriations agreement.”
As businesses continue to incur millions of dollars in lost revenue due to the impacts of aging infrastructure exacerbated by flooding and other climate disasters, and as utilities are increasingly unable to keep up with the rising costs of infrastructure upgrades, water is on the ballot now more than ever as we approach election season. An ABWC-conducted survey found that nearly eight in ten U.S. voters (78.86% of respondents) are more likely to vote for their member of Congress or senator if they support increased funding for clean and reliable drinking water. We urge appropriators to reconsider these cuts and work in a bipartisan manner to fund federal water infrastructure programs across the country at their fully authorized levels.
To learn more about proposed FY25 funding levels for key water infrastructure programs, read ABWC’s memo here.
