Publication: L.A. Times

UCLA Expert: Gregory Pierce: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs; Co-Director, Luskin Center for Innovation; Co-Director, UCLA Water Resources Group; Member, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Senior Researcher, Water and Transportation Initiatives

Synopsis: California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 222, legislation that would have required all state community water and wastewater systems to offer rate assistance to residential water customers. Advocates said that legislation like SB 222 would mitigate the financial burden of rising water prices.

UCLA News: Pierce said “the evidence is overwhelming of the need” of legislation to mitigate the financial burden of rising water prices. Even if the bill lacked funding, signing it would have been an important step “to get the work started. Water prices are going up for the next several decades, so we need some assistance programs in place like we have in so many other sectors. Water is pretty much the first service that the government can and should provide.”

Read more at L.A. Times.