SACRAMENTO – In what is sure to be a controversial move, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a tax on drinking water to help poor communities in California deal with contaminated water systems.
The plan to establish a ‘safe and affordable drinking water fund” is part of Newsom’s budget proposal, according the Sacramento Bee. A similar idea was proposed last year, but it never made it through the Legislature, the Bee reported.
Newsom wants to spend $25 million for safe drinking water as part of the cleanup effort. The exact details of the tax to raise the funds were not known.
An investigation by the McClatchy news organization found that 6 million Californians get their water from providers that have violated state safety standards in the last 6 years. The majority of people who have unsafe drinking water live in the Southern San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert, according to the investigation.
