Governor signs first bills, funding clean water, tax gaps

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved $131 million to improve drinking water infrastructure, backfill county property taxes from wildfires and take other actions in the first two bills he signed as the state's chief executive.

Newsom, a Democrat, traveled to a school in the Central Valley to emphasize his focus on ensuring California schools have access to clean water.

He said "I don't deserve to be your governor if I can't figure out a way to get that done." One of the bills he signed puts $10 million toward emergency drinking water projects and another $10 million to help water districts comply with drinking water standards.

Newsom has proposed a new tax on water that can help fund more water projects in disadvantaged communities.

According to a 2018 investigation by McClatchy newspapers at least 360,000 Californians rely on drinking water that doesn't meet state standards and the water of millions more hasn’t met state standards at some point in recent years.