To: The New Mexico State House, The New Mexico State Senate, and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Keep New Mexico's Water Public!
Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.
The New Mexico State Legislature should oppose any efforts to privatize any public water or sewer systems, including HB 299, the Public-Private Partnership Act.
Public-private partnerships often worsen service, lead to job loss and reduce public transparency and accountability. It makes no sense for taxpayers to subsidize for-profit water service providers, who regularly send profits out of local communities to stockholders.
This bill also includes an outrageous provision where if a person cannot afford to pay his or her water bill, they would be charged with a crime and could be jailed for up to 6 months or pay a fine of up to $500!
Vote no on the Public-Private Partnership Act (HB 299), or any legislative attempts toward privatization.
Why is this important?
This bill would be a bad deal for New Mexico. We've seen time and time again that when public systems are bought up by private companies rates increase, staff lose jobs and transparency with the public vanishes.
In the water sector, a public-private partnership is a type of arrangement wherein a local government contracts with a private entity to run all or part of a government-owned drinking water or wastewater system. Communities with aging infrastructure often think that the private sector can deliver financing or better services. The truth is just the opposite.
These kind of public-private partnerships restrict transparency and keep the public out of the loop. Full proposals would NOT be subject to the state's open records laws until after the deal is signed, so the public would not be able to review a proposal or weigh in and voice their opinion.
Instead, the state should facilitate public-public partnerships among public sector entities to share resources and expertise. Intermunicipal cooperation, interlocal agreements and bulk purchasing consortiums can improve public services and reduce costs while allowing communities to retain local control of their essential water and wastewater resources. Keep our public water under public control!