State budget funds a water rate study to create data-informed water affordability policies.
In 2019, MPC and partners worked with the legislature to pass a bill to create a statewide study of water rates. Unfortunately, that study was not funded at the time the bill was passed. We are happy to say that, thanks to the hard work of Representative LaShawn Ford and Representative Lindsey LaPointe, the study was funded in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget!
The study will be conducted by the Government Finance Research Center at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Researchers there were instrumental in developing the original bill and in subsequent research design. When completed, this study will help the legislature make data-informed policy to address water affordability across the state.
We are excited to work with UIC on this study in the coming years. We are grateful to Representatives Ford and LaPointe, our partners at Illinois Environmental Council, and the legislature for funding this important work.