BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1131
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1131 (Lara)
As Amended April 26, 2011
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 12-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Furutani, Achadjian, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Roger Hernández, Huffman, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Ma, Nestande, Skinner, | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| |Swanson, Valadao | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Smyth, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Director of the Department of General
Services (DGS) to report on the status of leasing state owned
lands to wireless telecommunications providers and
recommendations for improvement. Specifically, this bill
requires the Director of DGS to:
1)Submit to the Legislature, by January 31, 2012, a report on
actions taken by the Director to further leases with wireless
telecommunication providers. The report shall include the
number of wireless facility lease agreements for, and the
revenue generated from, state-owned real property that have
been entered into with providers of wireless communications
services and all moneys deposited into the Digital Divide
Account.
2)Take specified steps to further facilitate lease agreements on
state property with providers of wireless telecommunications
services. These steps include identifying an alternate state
site when a state agency rejects a lease, requiring state
agencies to notify the Director of, and provide an explanation
for, the denial of a lease, and working with agencies to
resolve issues resulting in a rejection.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Assembly Appropriations Committee,
minor absorbable one-time costs for the required report and
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minor ongoing administrative costs to further facilitate lease
agreements, potentially more than offset by increased revenues
from additional leases.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is intended to
improve and streamline DGS' state-owned property leasing
processes created in 2003 through AB 855 (Firebaugh), Chapter
820, Statutes of 2003. Furthermore, the author notes that
"during times of mounting economic uncertainty, it is imperative
that we take full advantage of opportunities that will help
generate new revenues for our state to pay for our priorities.
If current law practices are not working effectively to generate
the revenues envisioned and progress is stalled in an effort to
bridge the digital divide, other strategies need to be
employed."
1)Background . Assembly Member Firebaugh introduced AB 468 in
2002 to address the problem of installing wireless antennas.
One of the barriers to higher quality cellular
telecommunications services then and now is the difficulty in
installing antennas. Local opposition and NIMBYism make
antenna siting a long and costly process. AB 468 (Firebaugh)
was vetoed by the Governor due to concerns about the
usurpation of local control and the diversion of monies from
the General Fund.
Assembly Member Firebaugh introduced a modified version of AB
468 in AB 855 (Firebaugh), Chapter 820, Statutes of 2004, to
facilitate the placement of wireless telecommunication towers
and facilities on state-owned property and to use a portion of
new lease revenues from these facilities to address the state's
"digital divide."
DGS implemented the Digital Divide Program (DDP) in 2004 in
response to AB 855 (Firebaugh). The database is in place and
DGS staff continually improves and streamlines the
telecommunication site leasing process to optimize state assets.
However, the database and improved processes have not removed
the obstacles to generating revenue for DDP. AB 855 narrowly
defines qualifying revenue and limits it to "new leases on
non-special fund sites." Non-special fund sites are in short
supply and demand.
The majority of state telecommunication facilities as well as
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land and space for the development of new facilities are owned
by "special fund" entities such as the Department of the
Military, CAL FIRE, Highway Patrol and California District
Agricultural Associations. DGS managed telecommunications
leases currently generate about $2 million a year, but the
majority of these sites are owned by special fund entities and
the majority is not "new" leases.
The issue . Since the enactment of AB 855 (Firebaugh), two
important issues have been identified: 1) at a broad level, AB
855 may be too narrow in scope since it authorizes a limited
inventory of state-owned property for prospective leases and
applies only to new lease agreements; and, 2) the process for
leasing the eligible state-owned property is lengthy and
burdensome and may have the unintended consequence of
discouraging telecommunication companies from leasing property
from the state.
Funds to battle the "digital divide ." AB 855 (Firebaugh) also
requires that 15% of the revenues from fees collected from the
lease of state-owned real property to the providers of wireless
telecommunications services be deposited in the newly formed
Digital Divide Account in the California Teleconnect Fund.
These funds were to be used only for digital divide pilot
projects. DDP was established by AB 855 (Firebaugh) subject to
the availability of funding. The California Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) was prohibited from implementing DDP until it
projected that at least $500,000 was available in the Digital
Divide Account during the calendar year following
implementation.
PUC and DGS communicate annually regarding DDP and each year it
is determined that the revenue falls significantly short of the
$500,000 threshold for minimum deposit. Consequently, no
revenue has been generated for DDP to date.
Analysis Prepared by : DaVina Flemings / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0000814
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