BILL NUMBER: AB 1012 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Perez
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Fuentes, Galgiani, and Nielsen)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 11546.1 to the Government Code,
relating to broadband services, and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1012, as amended, V. Manuel Perez. Broadband communications.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to
consider and implement rules, procedures, and strategies to ensure
that all California citizens and businesses have access to the widest
possible array of advanced communications services. Existing law
also requires the commission to ensure cost-effective deployment of
technology so as to protect ratepayers' interests and the
affordability of telecommunications services
establishes, until January 1, 2013, the office of the State Chief
Information Officer, within the Governor's cabinet, with the State
Chief Information Officer having specified duties in creating and
managing the technology policy of the state .
This bill would require the State Chief Information Officer
(CIO) to access and administer any moneys received by the
state to establish a strategy to maximize federal
funding opportunities pursuant to the federal American Recovery
and Reinvestment Plan Act of 2009 and the
federal Broadband Data Improvement Act that are directed for
broadband-related activities, programs, or projects. The bill would
require the CIO State Chief Information
Officer , no later than 30 days after the effective date of
this bill, to develop a the strategy
to expedite accessing those funds, including the requirement
to specify actions that should be taken to assess, fund, allocate,
and install broadband in California's rural and underserved areas
and require that the strategy include specific
information for purposes of broadband development and deployment in
the state and the obtaining of federal funding for those purposes
. The CIO State Chief Information
Officer would be required to submit the strategy to the
relevant policy and fiscal committees in each house of the
Legislature within 60 30 days of the
preparation of the strategy.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) In October 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commissioned
through Executive Order S-23-06, the California Broadband Task Force
to "remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for
increased broadband adoption, and enable the reaction and development
of new advance communication technologies." After more than a year
of work, the task force issued a report titled "The State of
Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband" that maps
current broadband availability and speed, makes recommendations to
achieve universal broadband access and increased usage, and a
timeframe in which to meet these critical goals. While the report
shows terrific progress for the state, there is still more work to be
done, because nearly 2,000 communities are still unable to access
high-speed Internet, only one-half of Californians have access to
broadband at speeds greater than 10 megabits per second (Mbps), and
even though availability rates are at 96 percent, just over one-half
of California households use broadband.
(b) In 2008 the Legislature created the California Advanced
Services Fund in order to spur deployment of broadband infrastructure
in both rural and urban unserved and underserved areas within the
state, and encouraged a statewide policy to promote broadband
throughout the state.
(c) On February 17, 2009, the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5; hereafter the Recovery
Act) was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The act requires
the Federal Communications Commission to develop a National Broadband
Plan, and contains two new funding programs: (1) the Broadband
Technology Opportunities Program under the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration and (2) the Rural
Development Broadband Program under the United States Department of
Agriculture's Office of Rural Development, Rural Utilities Services.
(d) The Recovery Act authorizes $4.7 billion for the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration for the Broadband
Technology Opportunities Program, and appropriates $2.5 billion to
Rural Utilities Service to extend loans, loan and grant combinations,
and grants to projects where at least 75 percent of a Rural
Utilities Service funded area is in a rural area that lacks
sufficient access to high-speed broadband service in order to
facilitate rural economic development. Funding for each program must
be awarded by September 30, 2010. Up to $350 million is authorized
under the Recovery Act to fund the State Broadband Data and
Development Grant Program authorized by the Broadband Data
Improvement Act of 2008 (Title I of Public Law 110-385).
(e) In fulfilling the state's role, pursuant to the Notice of
Funds Availability and solicitation of applications for the Broadband
Technology Opportunities Program and Broadband Initiatives Program,
the Chief Information Officer, on behalf of the Governor, is required
to submit to the appropriate federal entities a prioritization of
recommended state projects, along with an explanation of why the
selected proposals meet the greatest needs of the state.
(f) As funding awarded pursuant to the above-described federal
programs is expected to be allocated through a series of requests for
proposals prior to the conclusion of the program on September 30,
2010, it is incumbent on the state to have a comprehensive and
multiphased strategy to assist California applicants in obtaining
these funds.
SECTION 1.
SEC. 2. Section 11546.1 is added to the Government
Code, to read:
11546.1. (a) The State Chief Information Officer
(CIO) shall access and administer any moneys received by the
state , in addition to serving on the Governor's
California Federal Stimulus Task Force, shall establish a strategy to
maximize fed eral funding opportunities pursuant to
the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) and the Broadband Data
Improvement Act (Title 1 of Public Law 110-385) that
are directed for broadband-related activities, programs, or
projects. These broadband-related activities, programs, and
projects include the State Broadband Data and Development Grant
Program, the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), and the Broadband
Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP).
(b) The CIO State Chief Information
Officer no later than 30 days after the effective date of this
section, shall develop a strategy to expedite accessing
funds provided under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 utilizing any information in the Notice of
Funds Availability and solicitation of applications for each
program, shall develop the strategy , which shall include all
of the following:
(1) Specify the actions that should be taken to assess, fund,
allocate, and install broadband in California's rural and underserved
areas.
(2) Identify, for purposes of accomplishing the strategy, key
public and private community development partners, necessary
statutory or regulatory changes, and needed resources.
(3) Set key
(1) Specific actions that should be taken to maximize both the
amount of federal broadband-related funding to the state and the
number of California applicants.
(2) Specific actions needed to facilitate broadband deployment in
California's rural areas, facilitate deployment of broadband
infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, enhance broadband
capacity at public computer centers, and promote sustainable
broadband adoption projects.
(3) A specific process for prioritizing state projects for BTOP
and BIP funding and appropriate sources used to determine how
individual selected proposals meet the greatest needs of the state.
(4) Identification of the specific roles of the State Chief
Information Officer, the Public Utilities Commission, the California
Broadband Task Force, and any other state entity that is necessary to
carry out the specific actions recommended in the strategy.
(5) Identification of the specific state resources, if any, that
may be utilized to leverage federal funds.
(6) A description of the state's role, if any, in the development
of the federal Broadband Plan.
(7) Identification of other key public and private community
development partners and their respective roles and areas of
expertise, necessary statutory or regulatory changes, and needed
resources to accomplish the strategy.
(8) Identification of key tasks,
timelines, and monitoring processes.
(c) The CIO State Chief Information
Officer shall submit the strategy developed pursuant to this
section to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of each house of
the Legislature within 60 30 days of
the preparation of the strategy.
(d) To the extent permitted by law, the State Chief Information
Officer shall consult with the Office of Planning and Research to
provide guidance to applicants and to help expedite permits required
for the deployment of broadband infrastructure projects and the
meeting of deadlines pursuant to the Notice of Funds Availability and
solicitation of applications for the BTOP and the BIP funding in the
federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
(e) The State Chief Information Officer shall administer, expend,
and distribute broadband-related funding, received under the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the State
Broadband Data and Development Grant Program, in a manner consistent
with federal law and the goals of the California Broadband Task
Force, the California Advanced Services Fund, established pursuant to
Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code, and the California
Emerging Technology Fund, a nonprofit public benefit corporation
established pursuant to Public Utilities Commission Decision
05-11-028.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to develop a strategy , at the earliest possible
time, for providing broadband access to unserved and
underserved areas in the state, it is necessary that this act take
effect immediately.