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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Alabama legislators passed a bill on Thursday that would strip Birmingham of control over the states largest water board and transfer power to the governor and surrounding suburbs, reigniting a decades-long, polarizing debate.

Proponents of the bill point to frequent rate hikes and say that the move will prevent catastrophic events that have happened in cities like Jackson, Mississippi, or Detroit, Michigan. Opponents of the bill say that it is a power grab that diminishes the power of Black residents in Birmingham, Alabama.

Birmingham city officials currently appoint six of the nine board members seats, giving Birmingham leadership unrivaled influence over the decisions affecting the citys water. Board members approve rate hikes and manage infrastructure projects.

If signed into law, SB330 would make the board just seven people. The mayor of Birmingham and the Birmingham city council would appoint two board members, while the governor, lieutenant governor and three neighboring county commission presidents would each appoint one board member.

Five counties rely on the Birmingham Water Works Board, but over 40% of the utilitys 770,000 customers are concentrated in the city of Birmingham, and 91% are in Jefferson County. The new system would give more weight to Birminghams neighboring counties that house the reservoirs that supply the system.

Republican lawmakers from the Birmingham suburbs sponsored the bill, saying that it will improve the efficiency of the system. They say aging infrastructure and lack of investment means residents pay for water that just gets leaked out of old pipes.

So many elected officials have been getting so many complaints, and Im sure yours have too, about the quality and the price of Birmingham water, said Republican Rep. Jim Carns, who represents Blount County, one of the places that will now appoint a board member.

The water board had approximately $1 billion in debt in 2023, according to the most recent financial statements, and the board has the second highest credit score, according to bond rating agencies.

Carns said that the regional board would make the utility more frugal. AL.com reported that the utility has been accused of lacking transparency in recent years and has sometimes made costly errors in distributing bills . Trust in the board was further undermined in recent years after high-profile ethics scandals .

Many in Alabamas vocal Democratic minority conceded that the board wasnt perfect, but they also condemned the move as a political takeover that would wrest power from Birminghams majority Black residents and redistribute it to customers in the citys mostly white suburbs.

Frankly the language used today was insulting, with words like competence being thrown around as if the city of Birmingham is not growing by leaps and bounds, Democratic Rep. Kelvin Datcher of Birmingham said after the bill passed. He questioned how the new boards composition would address any of the bill sponsors concerns about efficiency.

Democratic legislators also took issue with the fact that they were excluded from the overall process.

Each of us in this chamber would be rightfully concerned if outside representatives attempted to dictate how water systems operate in our districts without consulting us or even including us at the table, or, hell, even the room where this legislation was created, Rep. Neil Rafferty of Birmingham said.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin joined Birmingham city council members for a press conference to echo those concerns.

The ratepayers deserve to be at the forefront of this conversation, and they have not been, Woodfin said. Lets call it what it is. This is a political power grab. This is not in the best interest of our citizens.

The bill passed along party lines 66 to 27. It now goes to Republican Gov. Kay Iveys desk.

阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利讯（美联社）——阿拉巴马州立法者周四通过了一项法案，该法案将剥夺伯明翰对州内最大自来水管理委员会的控制权，并将权力转移给州长及其周边郊区，从而再次点燃了长达数十年的两极分化辩论。

该法案的支持者指出，频繁的费率上调将防止在密西西比州杰克逊市或密歇根州底特律市等城市发生灾难性事件。而法案的反对者则认为，这是一种权力攫取，削弱了阿拉巴马州伯明翰市黑人居民的权力。

伯明翰市官员目前任命了九名董事会成员中的六名，这使得伯明翰的领导层在影响该市供水的决策上拥有无与伦比的影响力。董事会成员负责批准水费上涨并管理基础设施项目。

如果SB330法案获得通过，那么该委员会将由7人组成。伯明翰市长和伯明翰市议会将任命两名委员会成员，而州长、副州长以及三个邻近县委员会主席将各自任命一名委员会成员。

五个县依赖于伯明翰供水局，但该局77万用户中超过40%集中在伯明翰市，91%在杰斐逊县。新系统将更加重视拥有为系统提供水源的蓄水池的伯明翰周边县。

伯明翰郊区的共和党议员们提出了这项法案，称这将会提高系统的效率。他们表示，老化的基础设施和缺乏投资意味着居民们为漏水而无法使用的旧管道中的水付费。

许多当选的官员都收到了很多关于伯明翰水质和价格的投诉，我确信你们也收到了不少，来自共和党代表Jim Carns，他代表的是将任命一名董事会成员的布劳恩特县。

根据最新的财务报表，2023年水务局大约有10亿美元的债务，而根据债券评级机构的评级，水务局的信用评分位列第二。

卡恩斯表示，区域委员会将使该公用事业公司更加节俭。AL.com 报道称，该公司在近年来被指控缺乏透明度，并且在账单分发过程中有时会出现高昂的错误。此外，在近期备受瞩目的道德丑闻之后，公众对该委员会的信任进一步降低。

阿拉巴马州许多高调的民主党派少数派承认，该委员会并不完美，但同时他们也谴责此举为一种政治接管，这种接管将剥夺伯明翰市大多数黑人居民的权力，并将其重新分配给该市大部分为白人的郊区客户。

民主党代表、伯明翰的凯文·达彻（Kelvin Datcher）在法案通过后表示，今天所用的语言很具侮辱性，把“能力”这样的词到处乱扔，就好像伯明翰市并没有飞速发展一样。他质疑新董事会的构成将如何解决法案提案人关于效率的任何担忧。

民主党立法者也对他们被排除在整体进程之外这一事实表示了不满。

伯明翰的尼尔·拉弗蒂（Neil Rafferty）议员表示，如果外部代表试图在我们未被咨询甚至未被邀请参与的情况下，在我们各自的选区中强加如何运行水系统的规定，或者，甚至在制定此项立法的房间内都不被包括，那么在座的每一位都会合理地感到担忧。

伯明翰市长兰德尔·伍德芬与伯明翰市议会议员一同参加新闻发布会，对上述担忧表示了共鸣。

伍德芬表示，「费率支付者（Ratepayers）应该处于这次对话的前列，但他们并未如此。我们得直面事实，这是一次政治权力的争夺，这并不符合我们公民的最佳利益。」

该法案以66票赞成、27票反对的投票结果通过，现在将交由共和党州长凯·艾维（Kay Ivey）处理。