BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 745 Hearing Date: 1/13/2016
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|Author: |Hueso |
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|Version: |1/4/2016 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Nidia Bautista |
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SUBJECT: Telecommunications: universal service: California
Advanced Services Fund
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) to provide additional information in its
annual report to the Legislature of the California Advanced
Services Fund (CASF), including county-level data and efforts to
leverage other resources. This bill also provides for the
explicit inclusion of workforce organization representatives in
regional consortia.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the CASF as one of several California universal
service program funds established in the State Treasury.
(Public Utilities Code §270)
2)Requires the CPUC to develop, implement, and administer the
CASF program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced
communications services to all Californians that will promote
economic growth, job creation and substantial social benefits
of advanced information and communications technologies.
(Public Utilities Code §281)
3)Establishes the goal of the CASF program to approve funding
for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access
to no less than 98% of Californians. (Public Utilities Code
§281)
SB 745 (Hueso) Page 2 of ?
4)Requires the CPUC to establish four accounts within CASF
program, including the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account,
the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant
Account, the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account,
and the Broadband Public Housing Account. (Public Utilities
Code §281)
5)Requires that monies collected in the Rural and Urban Regional
Broadband Consortia Grant Account are available to eligible
consortia to fund the costs of broadband deployment activities
other than capital costs of the facilities and identifies
eligible members and representatives who can participate in
the consortium. (Public Utilities Code §281)
6)Requires the CPUC to submit a report to the Legislature by
January 1 of each year with specified information about CASF
activities and efforts. (Public Utilities Code §914.7)
This bill:
1)Requires the CPUC to include additional information in its
annual report to the Legislature on the status of the CASF,
specifically detailed information by county and efforts to
leverage funds from non-CASF funding.
2)Explicitly includes representatives from workforce
organizations and air quality agencies as eligible members of
eligible broadband regional consortium.
Background
In 2007, the CPUC established the CASF which was subsequently
codified in law by SB 1193 (Padilla, Chapter 393, Statutes of
2008) as a new universal service program to encourage deployment
of broadband services to all Californians that will promote
economic growth, job creation, and substantial social benefits
of advanced information and communications technologies. The
CASF provides grants to bridge the "digital divide" in unserved
and underserved areas in the state.
CASF is funded by a surcharge rate on revenues collected by
telecommunications carriers from end-users of intrastate
services. With initial authorized funding of $100 million, the
CASF supports projects that will 1) provide broadband services
to "unserved" areas that are currently without broadband access
SB 745 (Hueso) Page 3 of ?
and 2) build out facilities in "underserved" areas. An
"unserved" area is an area that is not served by any form of
wireline or wireless facilities-based broadband, such that
internet connectivity is available only through dial-up service.
An "underserved" area is an area where broadband is available,
but no wireline or wireless facilities-based provider offers
service at advertised data transfer speeds of at least six
megabits per second download and 1.5 megabits per second upload.
Statute requires the CPUC to prioritize CASF investments to
unserved areas, followed by underserved areas.
SB 1040 (Padilla, Chapter 317, Statutes of 2010) extended CASF
indefinitely, established subaccounts within CASF, and increased
CASF funding to $225 million. SB 740 (Padilla, Chapter 522,
Statutes of 2013) authorized an additional $90 million funding
for a CASF grant subaccount. Currently, the CASF program has a
total authorized funding of $315 million to be collected in
surcharges through the year 2020.
California statute requires the CPUC to provide an annual report
to the legislature on the status of CASF activities and efforts.
The statute requires the report to include information about the
amount of funds expended in the previous year, to list the
recipients of the funds, the geographic regions of the state
affected/benefited by the funds, actual broadband adoption
levels and other information.
This bill requires the CPUC to include more detailed information
to understand broadband deployment by county. While some
county-level information is included in the report, including
some information about projects funded, the information included
is not uniformly displayed at the county level. The most recent
annual report by the CPUC, published in April 2015, noted the
importance of leveraging non-CASF resources. According to the
report: "regional consortia leaders have identified a strong
need for CASF project development and grant preparation
assistance, including technical consultation and partnership
facilitation between regional stakeholders." This bill requires
the CPUC to include in the annual report to the legislature
specific efforts of the CASF Program to leverage non-CASF
resources as it embarks on exploring expanded roles and analysis
to leverage resources and support projects where broadband gaps
exist. While these efforts have only recently begun, it will be
important for the legislature to understand what is being
explored and any resulting challenges and opportunities.
SB 745 (Hueso) Page 4 of ?
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 1193 (Padilla, Chapter 393, Statutes of 2008) codified CASF
as a new universal service program in the Public Utilities Code
to encourage the deployment of broadband.
SB 1040 (Padilla, Chapter 317, Statutes of 2010) extended CASF
indefinitely and expanded it to include three accounts: 1)
Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, 2) Broadband
Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account, and 3) Rural and Urban
Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account. The bill also
increased CASF funding to $225 million ($100 million additional
for the Infrastructure Grant Account, $15 million to the
Revolving Loan Account, and $10 million to the Consortia Grant
Account).
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT:
None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Addressing the digital divide is
imperative to ensuring all Californians have full and equal
access to the economic, educational, social, and health
opportunities available on the internet, now a primary mechanism
for many of society's activities. Improved broadband access and
availability is an important strategy in the state's efforts
bridge the divide, and the CASF program is key component of the
strategy. Improving the information available to policymakers
about the efforts and activities of the CASF program will help
to further our efforts to improve access for more Californians.
More detailed information at the county-level and information
about efforts to leverage non-CASF resources will be beneficial
to inform policymakers as to the existing challenges and
opportunities.
SB 745 (Hueso) Page 5 of ?
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