Congress funds water bills for low-income families with $500M
H.R. 9313 — Water Access Act · Filed by Debbie Dingell (D-MI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill appropriates $500 million to the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) for fiscal year 2027. LIHWAP helps low-income households pay water and wastewater bills. The money flows to the Department of Health and Human Services to distribute to states, which then assist eligible households directly.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward appropriations measure funding an existing federal assistance program. It contains no policy changes, no regulatory provisions, and no structural modifications—only a dollar allocation to an established program.
What the text implies
- Funding is one-time for FY 2027 only; absent reauthorization or future appropriations, the program reverts to prior funding levels after that fiscal year.
- The bill does not specify how the $500M is distributed among states, leaving allocation methodology to HHS administrative discretion.
- No income-eligibility thresholds or benefit caps are stated in the bill itself; those are governed by section 2912 of the ARP Act, which is not quoted here.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Low-income households gain direct financial assistance with water and wastewater bills, reducing the risk of service shutoffs and improving access to essential utilities. The appropriation is straightforward and targeted at a vulnerable population without carve-outs or private-sector giveaways.
Who stands to gain
- low-income households (direct recipients of utility bill assistance)
Named in the bill
Department of Health and Human Services, Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Section 2912
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 15, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 15, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Appropriations · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (319 characters) on Sep 27, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,316 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-27.
“Congress funds water bills for low-income families with $500M” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9313 Report an error