The attorney general’s office has issued the official title and summary for a water infrastructure proposal for the 2022 ballot and the initiative now enters circulation.
Attorney General Rob Bonta has the authority to decide the final language voters will see when casting their votes, a power that attracted several lawsuits over political bias against former Attorney General Xavier Becerra for his word choices. The summary describes The Water Infrastructure Funding Act as limiting environmental review for projects and limiting the role of the California Coastal Commission on infrastructure decisions. Reaching the goal of five million acre-feet of supply could cost California more than $100 billion, according to the summary.
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“These funds would therefore not be available to support other public services funded by the state,” it reads.
Left out of the summary was that the initiative “could result in water customers paying lower water bills,” which was a finding of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.