Bill > SB1125

This bill establishes the Water Rate Assistance Program, a statewide initiative managed by the State Water Resources Control Board (the state board) to provide direct water bill assistance to low-income residential households, addressing rising water costs and the risk of service shutoffs exacerbated by climate change and legal funding limitations on local utilities. The legislation creates the Water Rate Assistance Fund in the State Treasury, which is financed by state or federal appropriations, grants, and voluntary contributions, and requires the state board to track these monies separately from other revenues and direct at least 80 percent of future fund expenditures toward residential ratepayer accounts. To determine eligibility, the program automatically enrolls utility customers who participate in existing assistance initiatives like the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program—which offers discounted utility rates for low-income households—as well as recipients of other state and federal benefit programs like Medi-Cal or CalFresh, while allowing other customers to self-certify their low-income status under penalty of perjury. The program operates through eligible community and tribal water systems, with rollout dependent on legislative appropriations; if partial funding is provided, the state board will select a representative sample of water systems to participate, whereas full statewide implementation requires sufficient funding and makes participation mandatory for all nontribal community water systems. Furthermore, the legislation directs the state board to adopt formal implementation guidelines after public hearings, establish third-party contracts to handle customer enrollment and data processing securely, mandate monthly bill credits of at least twenty dollars (adjusted annually for inflation) or 20 percent of standard charges, and submit periodic progress reports to the Legislature, with enforcement supported by the Attorney General and full implementation entirely contingent upon the Legislature allocating funding for the program.