Al Franken
U.S. Senate
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
VOTE YES ON H.R. 3202: WATER PROTECTION AND REINVESTMENT OF 2009
The proposed bill will provide updated water infrastructure for our water system. I find this to be an important issue because it will save us money in the long run and decrease water contamination among other things.
The bill will protect public health, help restore the environment, create jobs and reduce the amount of pollution. Each day the U.S. loses 6 billion gallons of water due to bad infrastructure (6 billion gallons of water is about 9,000 Olympic sized pools). Last year 240,000 water mains were broken. This caused some major chaos in areas. It led to contaminated water and property damage. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) graded our nation’s water infrastructure a “D-“in their 2009 report.
Opponents of this bill may not see the importance of having an updated infrastructure. They may also be upset with the small tax on certain products. Pharmaceutical companies and large corporations will most likely oppose this bill due to the increased tax. This water protection and reinvestment act can save us money and decrease the amount of contamination.
We appreciate your previous and future concern for the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act. We hope you decide to go further in moving this bill through congress and vote “yes” for H.R. 3202 - The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act. If I can provide you with additional information or assistance please contact me at (555)-555-5555 or email@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Calista
The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act
Fact Sheet
What is it?The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act is a bill that is designed to help keep and maintain good water infrastructure.
The need
America’s water infrastructure is dissolving away. Last year 240,000 water mains were broken in America. This caused a lot of problems especially with contamination and property damage. Due to our poor water infrastructure America loosing 6 billion gallons of water a day because of leaky pipes. This would fill over 9,000 Olympic sized pools.
Funding
The funds for this act will come from a variety of areas. There will be a small tax on products that will raise some money we need for the fixing of the infrastructure.
Products include:
• 4 cents on containers that are in water based beverages
• 3% excise tax for products dissolved in water (toothpaste, toilet paper etc.)
• 0.5% excise tax for Pharmaceutical companies
• 0.15% tax on corporate profits over $4 million
There will also be some funding through grants and loans.
What the bill will do for the citizens
• Protect Public Health
• Help restore the environment
• Create jobs
• Reduce pollution
Supporters
• National Association of Clean Water Agencies
• American Rivers
• Clean Water Action
• Associated General Contractors
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Water & Sewer Distributors of America
• Rural Community Assistance Partnership
• Coalition for Alternative Wastewater Treatment
• American Public Works Association
• National Utility Contractors Association
Way to be really detailed, you have a lot of good information. I like how you included what the need for this is as well as the possiblefunding. This is a good break down, good job :)
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really good cause, and I think it is is really good because it will help protect the environment and protect public health by reducing the pollution. It is also a really good side effect that it will create jobs!
ReplyDeleteI think putting some more taxes in place is a great idea. Maybe people would think about their actions a littl more that way.
ReplyDeleteReceiving a D- is never a good thing, that serves as a great motivational factor. Also, a small tax can go along way. I also like the statistic referring to the Olympic pools, it really puts things in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI think that your facts in the letter really added the final touch! It made the letter seem very thought out and you raised a lot of good points! That's crazy about how much water is lost per day! I can't even really picture how much that is per year, and thats just the US!
ReplyDelete9,000 Olympic sized pools, wow that really puts things into perspective. I think how you included funding in your fact sheet is really eye-opening as well.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that this was even an issue! 6 billion gallons a day is a lot of water gone to waste. I think a little tax wouldn't be too bad to help fix those pipes.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you set up your post. It was very easy to read and know what you were talking about. I also like how on the fact sheet you didn't just list a bunch of statistics, you actually informed the reader on the topic! Very helpful.
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