Water Access and Affordability Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8254 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8254 To establish a low-income water assistance program, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 13, 2026 Ms. Tlaib (for herself, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Thanedar, and Ms. Velazquez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish a low-income water assistance program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Water Access and Affordability Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water is essential to the protection of public health. (2) After 50 years, the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.) has demonstrably improved drinking water quality across the nation. However, millions of Americans are unable to afford their water bills and many water utilities have been unable to fund and maintain infrastructure critical to providing high quality, reliable, and affordable drinking water. Therefore, the Federal Government needs to increase water assistance to households and communities. (3) The Federal Government provides low-income household assistance for bas