Guest Columns

The House Appropriations Committee has approved an FY18 spending bill that would cut EPA’s funding by 6.5 percent next year. The cut is far short of the 31 percent cut sought by President Donald Trump but still severe enough to reduce overall agency funding toRead More

By Kristina Surfus With the major changes that came to Washington, D.C. this year, both in the White House and Congress, the municipal clean water sector is seeing new challenges as well as opportunities to advocate for clean water as a bipartisan federal priority. The NationalRead More

By David Clamage Historians have suggested that the concept of charging interest today for the use of money, goods or services to be repaid in the future goes back thousands of years, when a farmer could borrow a seed to grow wheat and repay thatRead More

The Value of Water Campaign recently released the results to a new poll that reveals Americans’ level of satisfaction with infrastructure systems and emphasis being placed on prioritizing critical projects by the federal government. The poll, commissioned by the Value of Water Campaign, found that moreRead More

The American Water Works Association applauded Congress for appropriating an additional $10 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). The additional $10 million brings WIFIA funding in 2017 to $30 million, which can leverage an estimated $1.5 billion in federal loans. Because WIFIA canRead More

The $1.017 trillion omnibus appropriations bill signed in early May by President Donald Trump finalizes federal agency budgets for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year and removes the immediate threat of a government shutdown. The bill slightly reduces overall EPA appropriations, but also delivers fresh newRead More

In April, the Trump Administration released a one-page outline of a tax code overhaul that it says will grow the economy, simplify tax filing and lower rates for businesses and middle-income families.  The outline does not definitively indicate whether or not municipal bond interest income would beRead More

 By Cindy Wallis-Lage   Water is both a resource and a challenge. As an optimist — a trait I think I share with many water leaders — I see opportunities and potential solutions when I look at challenges facing the water industry. Leaders in anyRead More

  By David Clamage Nineteenth century French sculptor Auguste Rodin once said, “Even with all the documents, you can never forge nature.” In delivering water to your communities, you don’t so much forge nature as sculpt it to the goals of your community defined byRead More

In March, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) urged Congress to maintain tax-exempt municipal bond interest when lawmakers undertake a comprehensive tax reform bill, joining a letter sent to Capitol Hill organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ “Don’t Mess With Our Bonds” coalition.Read More