To: Governor Phil Murphy
Gov. Christie: Veto the water privatization bill!
NJ Legislators just passed a bill that would take away our right to vote on whether to privatize water in our own communities. Right now a municipality must hold a public referendum on any privatization scheme, but this new bill cuts voters out of the process. Protect our voting rights and our water by vetoing this terrible legislation.
Why is this important?
For the last century, New Jersey law has required sales of public water systems to go before the voters. The idea is that politicians shouldn’t just be able to sell off what generations of New Jerseyans built together, and that the public should have the right to review any sale of a resources as fundamental as water.
But the New Jersey Legislature just passed a bill that cuts voters out of the picture. Instead of making the case for these sales to the voters, multinational water companies want to work exclusively with the elected officials whose campaigns they help bankroll.
Selling off water systems might provide a one-time infusion of cash to towns and cities, but it's the ratepayers who end up paying the cost. Water companies can make sky-high bids with the full knowledge that they can raise rates to cover the cost of the purchase.
This is a blatant attack on democracy and local control, and a veto is our last chance to stop it.
But the New Jersey Legislature just passed a bill that cuts voters out of the picture. Instead of making the case for these sales to the voters, multinational water companies want to work exclusively with the elected officials whose campaigns they help bankroll.
Selling off water systems might provide a one-time infusion of cash to towns and cities, but it's the ratepayers who end up paying the cost. Water companies can make sky-high bids with the full knowledge that they can raise rates to cover the cost of the purchase.
This is a blatant attack on democracy and local control, and a veto is our last chance to stop it.