Dan Kildee: “My hometown of Flint, Michigan, has endured decades of job loss and population loss through the slow, painful erosion of…”

“My hometown of Flint, Michigan, has endured decades of job loss and population loss through the slow, painful erosion of our manufacturing base. Previous trade deals, population shifts, bad land use management, and trade deals like NAFTA, for example, have accelerated the job losses in my hometown. That has had the effect of reducing local revenues, creating lower housing prices, less local services, and less investments in things that matter the most, like infrastructure, including our own water system. To reinvest in those places costs money that the cities don't have. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund was specifically designed to assist communities with maintaining and improving water infrastructure. This fund provides critical support to ensure safe, clean drinking water is available in our communities. Many of us represent communities, however, that have outstanding loans issued under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund from prior to 2009, and those loan funds are ineligible for certain types of help because of the timing of those loans. In Flint, our current water system loses over a third of the treated water due to decades-old delivery systems before it even reaches the faucets in homes and businesses. This city has relied on the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to improve this system, but the challenge and the cost is immense.…”