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A coalition of environmental groups is calling on presidential candidates to prioritize drinking water in their policy plans. From lead pipes in schools, nitrate in rural areas and the rising cost of water bills, Americans across the country are struggling to access safe and affordable drinking water.
Laura Rubin heads the Healing Our Water-Great Lakes Coalition. She says water should be top of mind for presidential hopefuls.
“There is not a single issue in this election that is more important than the fact that in 2019, in the United States of America, there are millions of people who do not have access to clean, safe and affordable water for themselves, their families and their children.”
A recent poll of early voting states by C-B-S News and YouGov shows healthcare and climate change are top of mind for voters. Some political scientists are skeptical that concerns over drinking water could compete with those issues.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds told a Cedar Rapids tv station yesterday that there is "no reason" to explain why she asked the head of Iowa's Department of Human Services to resign last month.
Jerry Foxhoven stepped down last month at the request of Reynolds. The Governor has said she is looking to overhaul the agency and is currently searching for a new leader for the department that oversees the state's privatized Medicaid system.
Reynolds told KCRG the same thing she has said publicly, that there were several factors that led her to ask Foxhoven to resign but she refuses to give specifics.
When asked if the public has a right to know what she is considering when making those decisions, Reynolds said: "I don't think so". Foxhoven says he was asked by Reynolds’s staff to do something illegal and he refused, and after that, he was asked to resign.
