MORE WATER Act

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Bill ID: 119/s/3738
Last Updated: April 1, 2026

Sponsored by

Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]

ID: P000145

Follow the money

The bill

MORE WATER Act

S. 3738, 119th Congress — read as touching Construction & Engineering.

The sponsor

Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$89,100 raised

29 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held.

March 16, 2026

Introduced

Committee Review

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill moves to the floor for full chamber debate and voting.

🗳️

Floor Action

Passed Senate

🏛️

House Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

(sigh) Alright, let's get this over with. The MORE WATER Act - because who doesn't love a good acronym? This bill is like a patient coming in with a self-diagnosed case of "I'm thirsty" and expecting me to prescribe them a magic pill.

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of this bill is to reauthorize the large-scale water recycling and reuse program, because apparently, we haven't figured out how to conserve water yet. It also establishes a Water Conveyance Improvement Program, which sounds like a fancy way of saying "let's build more pipes." The objectives are to provide grants for water projects that benefit low-income communities, the environment, and agriculture.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (because we love reauthorizing things) to redefine what constitutes a "construction" project. It also establishes a new program for providing grants to eligible entities (read: those with deep pockets and good lobbyists) for water projects that meet certain criteria, like benefiting low-income communities or the environment.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are affected here: states, Indian tribes, municipalities, irrigation districts, water districts... you get the idea. Anyone who has a stake in getting their hands on some of that sweet, sweet federal funding for water projects. Oh, and let's not forget the low-income communities, because we love throwing around buzzwords like "equity" and "access."

**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact is... (dramatic pause) ...more water projects! Yay. But seriously, this bill might actually do some good if it weren't for the fact that it's just a Band-Aid on a much larger problem - our country's inability to manage its water resources effectively. The implications are that we'll continue to throw money at symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of our water woes.

Diagnosis: This bill is suffering from a bad case of " Politician-itis" - a disease characterized by an excessive desire for re-election, a lack of vision, and a reliance on buzzwords. The treatment? A healthy dose of skepticism, a strong stomach, and a willingness to call out the obvious lies and half-truths that come with every piece of legislation.

Prognosis: Guarded. This bill might pass, but it won't solve anything. We'll just be back here in a few years, reauthorizing something else because we didn't actually fix the problem. (shrugs) That's just how politics works.

Related Topics

Water & Air Quality RegulationsPublic Lands & Natural ResourcesHousing & Urban Development
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$89,100
23 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$21,400
Committees
$0
Individuals
$67,700

No PAC contributions found

1
CHEROKEE NATION
1 transaction
$5,000
2
MOORETOWN RANCHERIA
1 transaction
$3,300
3
TOLOWA DEE-NI' NATION
1 transaction
$3,300
4
TULE RIVER TRIBAL COUNCIL
1 transaction
$3,300
5
THE CHICKASAW NATION
1 transaction
$2,500
6
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
2 transactions
$2,000
7
ONEIDA NATION
1 transaction
$1,000
8
ONEIDA INDIAN NATION
1 transaction
$1,000

No committee contributions found

1
CHEN, YU
2 transactions
$6,600
2
ZHAO, PENG
2 transactions
$6,600
3
GOLDMAN, JOHN
2 transactions
$6,600
4
GOLDMAN, MARCIA
2 transactions
$6,600
5
ANDREESSEN, MARC LOWELL
2 transactions
$6,600
6
KIMBER, SHELDON
1 transaction
$5,000
7
CARUSO, RICK J.
1 transaction
$3,300
8
DELVAC, WILLIAM F.
1 transaction
$3,300
9
GRAY, WILLIAM
1 transaction
$3,300
10
KEYES, HOWARD
1 transaction
$3,300
11
STEIN, KEVIN
1 transaction
$3,300
12
FISHER, ROBERT J.
1 transaction
$3,300
13
FISHER, JOHN
1 transaction
$3,300
14
FISHER, WILLIAM S.
1 transaction
$3,300
15
DIXON, CHRISTOPHER
1 transaction
$3,300

Donor Network - Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

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Showing 62 nodes and 29 connections (65 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $89,100

Top Donors - Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]

Showing top 23 donors by contribution amount

8 Orgs15 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.

  • Section 2 reauthorizes large-scale water recycling and reuse program with $450M appropriation for feasibility studies, planning, design, and construction of projects (subsection (l)). Section 3 establishes Water Conveyance Improvement Program with $500M appropriation for grants to conveyance projects (subsection (m)). Section 4 reauthorizes recycling program and environmental restoration program with $550M for new water recycling projects and $250M for endangered species habitat actions. These p

  • +Agribusinessconfidence 0.60

    Section 3 defines 'water supply benefit' to include irrigation benefit (subsection (a)(14)(A)). Section 3(e)(2) allows Federal share for non-multi-benefit projects to be used solely for water supply benefits. Section 3(f)(2)(A) describes safe drinking water benefits that can include indirect support for water delivery. These provisions could improve water availability for irrigation, benefiting agribusinesses that rely on water for crop production. However, the bill does not provide direct subsi

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