Call to Action

The Issue:

Each year, CalMutuals establishes its legislative and regulatory priorities at its annual meeting. As legislation and regulations evolve, CalMutuals adopts and takes positions against specific proposals that could be harmful to mutual water companies. As an organization we have taken an OPPOSE position to SB 3 introduced by Senator Bill Dodd and need your help in helping to communicate our concerns to your local representative.

SB 3 (Dodd) targets small water systems with 200 connections or fewer. It requires small water systems with limited staff and resources to follow a complex set of steps before shutting off customers for non-payment or face possible penalties. This includes translating the shut-off process into multiple languages; taking extraordinary means to make sure that customers receive the rules (including hand-delivery of notices); not shutting off customers with medical circumstances; and a payment plan that a customer can accept in lieu of a shut-off of service, delaying the amount of time that the system is able to collect payment.

This bill would replace your company’s existing policies and practices around repayment, and would eliminate the flexibility to work with your customers on a case-by-case basis.

Action Needed:

SB 3 has advanced through the state legislature and is now at the Governor’s desk. The bill awaits the Governor’s signature or veto by the October 14th deadline. You can join us in asking the Governor to veto the bill, unless the necessary resources are provided for small systems.

We have created a template letter that your agency can use. You can place the template language on your letterhead and update the highlighted information for your system on the template, then simply send it back to CalMutuals at karina@calmutuals.org. The letter template can be downloaded here.

We will submit the letter on your behalf. For more information you can read the full proposed language of SB 3 here. Please feel free to call (831) 840-1907 or email Karina@calmutuals.org with any questions.

Every letter from a system working in the community makes a difference. We thank you for taking the time to make your voice heard!