Water rate assistance program.

Assembly Member Ransom's water assistance legislation shifts California's approach to helping residents afford water service by authorizing local water suppliers to establish and manage their own rate assistance programs. The bill enables public urban retail water suppliers to provide various forms of financial relief to eligible customers, including bill reductions, account credits, and assistance with past-due balances.

Under the proposed framework, water suppliers may offer assistance to residential customers with household incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level, those facing payment difficulties, or other ratepayers based on community needs. Suppliers can utilize existing funding sources and collect voluntary contributions from ratepayers to support these programs, though they cannot use fees or charges governed by Article XIII D of the California Constitution. The legislation requires public meetings before establishing assistance programs and mandates that suppliers report annually to the State Water Resources Control Board on program details, including funding levels and the number of households served.

The bill repeals previous state requirements related to the federal Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, which expired in March 2024, while maintaining alignment with California's policy declaring the human right to safe, clean, affordable water. Starting in 2028, urban retail water suppliers must include information about their assistance programs in technical reports to the state board, which will conduct a voluntary survey of suppliers by mid-2026 to assess program implementation.