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Home , Bill Young, Frederica Wilson, Greg Steube, Matt Gaetz

FSAWWA SPEAKING OUT FSAWWA Makes a Difference In Washington, D.C., and Oxford, Miss. ! Begin discussions for reauthorization of the U.S. House of Representatives drinking water and wastewater SRF pro- ! Rep. grams and of WIFIA. ! Rep. Ted S. Yoho Michael F. ! Maintain fully authorized funding for con- ! Rep. John H. Rutherford Bailey, P.E. servation programs at the U.S. Department ! Rep. Chair, FSAWWA of Agriculture, particularly the Regional ! Rep. Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) ! Rep. at $300 million in FY 2020. ! Rep. ! Give the U.S. Environmental Protection ! Rep. he FSAWWA has been actively engaging Agency the tools it needs to make accurate, ! Rep. our elected officials over the past several health-based decisions on how to address ! Rep. Tmonths, both in Tallahassee and Wash- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) ! Rep. ington D.C., to discuss legislative issues related accurately and effectively. ! Rep. to the water industry and to promote AWWA ! Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart as the authoritative resource for all things The delegation was led by seasoned ! Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell water. Capitol Hill veterans Lisa Wilson-Davis (Water ! Rep. Utility Council chair), Kevin Carter (Water Util- Washington, D.C. Fly-In ity Council vice chair), and Chris Pettit (Water Regional Meeting of Section Officers Utility Council Legislative Committee chair), The Washington, D.C. Fly-In was held on who all did a great job framing the conversa- On March 3 and 4, FSAWWA leadership at- March 26-28 and, by all accounts, it was very suc- tions. I was with them, along with Monica tended the Regional Meeting of Section Officers cessful. A total of 150 attendees from 48 states and Autrey (Water Utility Council secretary-trea- (RMSO) for AWWA Region II in Oxford, Miss. Puerto Rico converged on Capitol Hill to voice surer) and (FSAWWA past chair). This event brings together the twelve sister sec- our concerns about water issues on a national And, of course, a big thank you to Peggy Guing- tions located within the region: level. Florida was well represented with seven del- ona, FSAWWA’s executive director, for keeping ! Alabama/ egates from several different utilities. Specific rec- us organized and on time for our appointments! ! Florida ommendations to our elected officials included: We visited the following members of Con- ! ! Provide fully authorized funding in fiscal year gress: ! Kentucky/Tennessee (FY) 2020 for the drinking water State Revolv- U.S. Senate ! North Carolina ing Fund (SRF) program at $1.3 billion, and ! Sen. ! the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innova- ! Sen. ! Virginia tion Act (WIFIA) program at $50 million. ! West Virginia

At the U.S. Capitol office of Rep. Donna Shalala are (left to right) Bill Young, Peggy In front of the U.S. Supreme Court building are (left to right) Kevin Carter, Guingona, Mike Bailey, Rep. Shalala, Monica Autrey, Lisa Wilson-Davis, Kevin Carter, Monica Autrey, and Bill Young. and Chris Pettit.

30 May 2019 • Florida Water Resources Journal U.S. Capitol The Lincoln Memorial

! Kansas the association and its vision for the future with boring sections and we can learn a lot from each ! Missouri the sections. The section leaders also share the dif- other. I also learned that northern Mississippi ! Southwest (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Okla- ferent methods and procedures that they have de- can be darn cold in early March! homa) veloped to meet their goals to provide value to By the time most of you read this, the 2019 ! Puerto Rico their members. Florida Water Resources Conference in Tampa I personally learned that the Florida Sec- will have ended, so I hope you all enjoyed that The RMSO is a great opportunity for leaders tion and its regions provide a wide variety of event and I encourage you to make your plans of these sections to meet with each other and benefits to the members. There are also some now to attend ACE19 in Denver. AWWA staff to learn about new initiatives from very interesting ideas coming from our neigh- See you there! !

Florida Water Resources Journal • May 2019 31