BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1386
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1386 (Bradford)
          As Amended  June 13, 2011
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |53-21|(May 19, 2011)  |SENATE: |26-11|(August 29,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2011)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:   U. & C.  


           SUMMARY  :  This bill encourages cable television corporations and 
          direct broadcast satellite providers to voluntarily adopt a plan 
          for increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business 
          enterprise procurement and to voluntarily report activity in 
          this area to the Legislature on an annual basis.  This bill 
          would require the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 
          to make this report available on its Internet Web site.


           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. 


           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, women and minority-owned 
          business participation in the broadband industry will be 
          critical to job recovery in California.  Small businesses are 
          critical sources of new employment. 

          This bill will encourage cable television corporations and 
          direct broadcast satellite providers to voluntarily adopt a plan 
          for increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business 
          enterprise procurement and to voluntarily report activity in 
          this area to the Legislature on an annual basis.

          In the most recent PUC report to the Legislature, utility 
          spending on diverse procurement increased from $3.47 billion in 
          2008 to $4.27 billion in 2009, an increase of 23.05%.  There was 
          also an increase as a percentage of total utility procurement; 
          amounts from diverse firms increased from 13.19% in 2008 to 
          16.72% in 2009.  The same potential for reporting and 
          achievement may exist with cable television corporations and 
          direct broadcast satellite providers.








                                                                  AB 1386
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          In California, women and minority-owned businesses represent the 
          bulk of small businesses. Since diverse business owners are much 
          more likely to hire diverse workers, the success of women and 
          minority-owned businesses translates into jobs for women and 
          minorities.

          More than twenty years ago, PUC created Government Order 156 
          (GO156) to encourage a fair proportion of total utility 
          contracts and subcontracts for products and services to be 
          awarded to women, minority, and disabled veteran business 
          enterprises.  As a result of this information, California's 
          largest utility and telecommunications companies have increased 
          their diverse procurement by more than 300% for women, minority 
          and disabled veteran-owned businesses. 

          Cable television corporations and direct broadcast satellite 
          providers are not under the jurisdiction of PUC and are not 
          required to report on their procurement with diverse businesses. 
           The extent to which women and minority-owned businesses are 
          being included in certain emerging sectors is largely unknown.  

          The state, as well as the federal government, has placed 
          priority on the expansion of broadband particularly in rural and 
          underserved communities.  The state and the federal government 
          have made nearly a billion dollars available in grants and loans 
          to help expand broadband service across the country.  Cable 
          companies have and continue to make significant infrastructure 
          investments in this area.  Direct broadcast satellite providers 
          also support broadband applications and have begun to petition 
          the government for the opportunity to compete for these public 
          broadband funds. 

          Historically, minority and women-owned businesses have not been 
          at the contracting table within emerging technology industries.  
          Diversity in growing businesses is vital to California's 
          success.  In a majority-minority state, where women represent 
          over 50% of California's population and people of color 
          represent 60%, economic recovery cannot happen without 
          diversity.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916) 
          319-2083 









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