Governor Gavin Newsom signed his first two Assembly Bills on Wednesday in hopes of funding emergency drinking water and fire recovery in California. AB 72 and AB 73 are both early action budget bills. They two bills are designed to provide urgent assistance for communities that have contaminated and unsafe …
Read More »Assemblymen Mathis, Garcia Propose Dedicating Two Percent of State’s General Fund for Water
Late last week, Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-26th District-Visalia) introduced a bipartisan amendment to the California Constitution for use of the state’s general fund budget for the rebuilding and enhancing of the state’s water infrastructure. Coauthored with Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-56th District-Coachella) the amendment targets a stable, ongoing source of funding …
Read More »Gov Newsom’s Proposed Water Tax Meets with Criticism, Praise and Concern
In spite of last year’s failed “Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act,” proposed by former California Gov. Jerry Brown, the state’s new Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his proposed 2019-20 budget on Thursday with a tax on drinking water targeted to helping disadvantaged communities in their efforts to clean up …
Read More »Trump Signs Water Infrastructure Bill
President Donald Trump signed the Water Resources Development Act of 2018 into law Oct. 23 at the White House as lawmakers who played roles in crafting the bipartisan bill looked on. The legislation is the second important federal infrastructure bill to become law in less than three weeks. The new …
Read More »Rep. Denham’s San Joaquin Valley Water Storage Legislation Passes the House
Legislation by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-10th District-Turlock) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-16th District-Modesto) to authorize the financing of new water storage projects passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week and is a milestone toward helping to ensure better water availability in the San Joaquin Valley. The legislation passed …
Read More »“Voluntary” Water Tax Dies in Legislature
Another attempt by legislators to tax Californians for clean water has failed in a last-minute attempt and the failure has received praise by many. Senate Bill (SB) 845 by State Senator Bill Monning (D-17th District-Monterey) would have added a voluntary drinking water tax of approximately 95 cents onto California ratepayers’ …
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