Water tax proposal remains poor policy

Like a bad penny, a plan to tax water keeps turning up in Sacramento.

That’s right. Under two proposals circulating in the Capitol, California would start taxing the most fundamental resource on the planet. Such taxes would needlessly drive up costs for families already struggling to make ends meet and undermine the goals that proponents profess.

Senate Bill 623 by state Sen. William Monning, D-Carmel, and a budget trailer bill supported by Gov. Jerry Brown would add a tax to local residential and business water bills in the name of providing safe, clean drinking water to disadvantaged communi...