Legislation that would tack on an additional monthly fee to water utility bills has been defeated.

The Democrat-sponsored legislation, which was designed as a way to fund a proposed statewide payment assistance program, did not get a vote in the Michigan House of Representatives on Thursday, which was the last chance before the end of the 2023-2024 term.

State Rep. Alicia St. Germaine opposed the legislation because it does not exempt communities that already have a program in place to help low-income households who cannot afford to pay their water bills.

“Macomb County should not have to foot the bill for the rest of the state when we are already doing the right thing for our community, which is why we’ve been fighting all year to keep these bills from getting approved,” said St. Germaine, R-Harrison Township. “Our water bills are expensive enough as-is.”

The legislation, if signed into law, would have charged customers an additional $2 per month per water meter in order to raise approximately $72M annually. That extra fee would then increase by 10% each year until it reaches $3 per water meter per month.

The legislation also allocates up to $2,500 for individual households to make plumbing repairs.

St. Germaine said she was always optimistic that the bills would get defeated because Republican and Democrat lawmakers both privately committed to vote no.

“I’ve been continuously working with Democrat lawmakers and urging them to vote no on this legislation because it doesn’t benefit the majority of our constituents here in Macomb County,” St. Germaine said.

The first-term lawmaker also said that Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller worked behind the scenes to help marshal opposition to the bills. The Macomb County Board of Commissioners and several other Macomb County communities also passed resolutions in opposition to this plan.

Senate Bills 549-554 never even got out of committee. House Bills 5088-5093 were discharged from committee but never got a vote of the full House chamber.