Congress To Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves: Show Us How Funds Are Being Used To Help Jackson’s Water Crisis

Running water has been restored in the predominantly Black capital of Jackson, Mississippi. However, there are still no assurances that the years-long clean water problem will be fixed. This is why Congress is stepping in to ask Gov. Tate Reeves for a complete layout of how his administration plans to distribute millions of dollars in federal funds, according to ABC News.

House Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) are leading “the start of a joint investigation” to take a closer look at allegations that Reeves’s administration has been withholding resources from Jackson. Both representatives sent a letter to Reeves’s office asking for specific information.

First, they want to know which communities in Mississippi will receive federal funding from the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law. In addition, they also want racial demographics and population sizes.

For some reason, Jackson has an “additional layer of review” regarding its applications for assistance. Congress wants to know why that is the case. The state also allegedly planned to “bar communities of more than 4,000 people from competing for additional funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.” Mississippi’s current plan would not send any funding to Jackson and caps “principal forgiveness.” The representatives’ letter asks Reeves to respond by Oct. 31. However, given how the midterms might shake out, Republicans could be in control of the House, which would impede this investigation.

The NAACP had sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency to open a civil rights investigation probing how the state disperses funds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Justice Department also said they are prepared to file an action if the state and local government can’t agree.

Cities and counties had a Sept. 30 deadline to apply for American Rescue Plan funding. Mississippi has not announced what the plan is for using that money.