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Literally essential services like #water & #sewer would be the top #infrastructure priority in a federal COVID relief bill, right?
Nope. Once again, transportation & broadband are slated for $55 billion.
Water & sewer? $0.
Unhappy, but alas, unsurprising.
1/12
Nope. Once again, transportation & broadband are slated for $55 billion.
Water & sewer? $0.
Unhappy, but alas, unsurprising.
1/12
This is nothing new for the #water sector.
The $2.2 trillion CARES Act (the first big #COVID relief bill) earlier this year gave $71 billion to the transportation sector and...
Zero to water.
2/12
The $2.2 trillion CARES Act (the first big #COVID relief bill) earlier this year gave $71 billion to the transportation sector and...
Zero to water.
2/12
The HEROES Act (the 2nd round COVID stimulus that passed the House but stalled out the Senate) wouldn't have done much to shore up the #water sector, either.
http://mannyteodoro.com/?p=1598
3/12
http://mannyteodoro.com/?p=1598
3/12
It’s getting to be an awfully familiar story.
Remember the 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (AKA the Obama stimulus)?
#Water & sewer got just $18 billion of the $105 billion in #infrastructure funding in that bill.
4/12
Remember the 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (AKA the Obama stimulus)?
#Water & sewer got just $18 billion of the $105 billion in #infrastructure funding in that bill.
4/12
Why does the #water—so clearly vital to life & prosperity—always get the short end of the legislative stick?
Politics are complicated; there are probably many reasons. But some of it has to be the #water sector’s extreme fragmentation. 5/12
Politics are complicated; there are probably many reasons. But some of it has to be the #water sector’s extreme fragmentation. 5/12
The policies that pass through Congress aren’t necessarily the smartest or most efficient; they’re the laws that are effectively championed by members and lobbyists in the legislative process.
6/12
6/12
Effective lobbying for a group (like an industry or economic sector) requires collective action.
Political scientists have long recognized that coordinating that action is easiest for a small, homogenous, resource-rich group.
7/12
Political scientists have long recognized that coordinating that action is easiest for a small, homogenous, resource-rich group.
7/12
As groups get larger & more diverse, their interests become more divergent.
The costs of coordinating lobbying also get exponentially larger, and individual members have greater incentive to “free ride” on others’ efforts.
8/12
The costs of coordinating lobbying also get exponentially larger, and individual members have greater incentive to “free ride” on others’ efforts.
8/12
There are tens of thousands of water/sewer systems across the country—probably an order of magnitude more than transportation, energy & telecom sectors combined.
These utilities can have widely divergent preferences on fed policy. 9/12
These utilities can have widely divergent preferences on fed policy. 9/12
It’s hard to coordinate lobbying efforts with such disparate interests.
Is it any wonder that the #water sector struggles to compete with transportation, energy, and telecom in the zero-sum game of legislative politics?
10/12
Is it any wonder that the #water sector struggles to compete with transportation, energy, and telecom in the zero-sum game of legislative politics?
10/12
As I (and others) have argued, significant consolidation would likely bring many direct, operational and economic blessings to the water sector: http://mannyteodoro.com/?p=1050 11/12
It’s hard to shake the feeling that consolidation would also bring an important indirect benefit to the #water sector, too: a more effective voice in Washington.
5,000 utilities would speak more loudly and clearly than 50,000.
12/12
5,000 utilities would speak more loudly and clearly than 50,000.
12/12
