The proposed tax would cost most Californians about $1 per month on their residential water bills.
Although California voters just approved another $4 billion in bonds including funds for clean water, and the November ballot will ask voters to approve about $8 billion more, Gov.
Trailer bills, also called spot bills, are blank pieces of legislation that are passed by the Legislature earlier in the session.
During the semi-secret budget process, the blank bills are amended to add last-minute agreements, then quickly passed into law.
The Assembly wanted a new statewide tax on drinking water.
SB623 is opposed by the Association of California Water Agencies, which said the problem of water contamination is largely the result of farming practices and shouldn’t be charged to residential and business customers throughout the state.
SB623 would add a fee on fertilizer sales and a per-facility fee on dairies and livestock operations.
Agricultural interests say the burden is on landowners to prove that they were not the cause of the water contamination, which arguably can lead to an unfair choice between a costly process and a costly fine.
But speaking of unfair, the Appropriations Committee analysis says the agricultural fee would raise only 20 percent of the clean-up cost.
Although the budget trailer bill is dead, SB623 remains an active bill.