BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 745
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
745 (Hueso)
As Amended August 1, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 36-1
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Utilities |10-4 |Gatto, Burke, Eggman, |Patterson, Chávez, |
| | | |Dahle, Obernolte |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Ting, Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |11-4 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Jones, Obernolte |
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| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Makes various changes to the California Advanced
Services Fund (CASF). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in
its review of applications for funds from the CASF Broadband
Public Housing Account (Public Housing Account), to prioritize
unserved housing developments.
2)Specifies that a housing development is unserved when at least
one housing unit within the housing development is not offered
broadband internet service.
3)Extends the date remaining funds from the Public Housing
Account are transferred back to other CASF Accounts from
December 31, 2016, to December 31, 2020.
4)Extends the due date on the CPUC annual report to the
Legislature from January 1 of each year to April 1 of each
year.
5)Requires the CPUC to provide additional information in its
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annual report, including county information and specified
details on the status of each CASF funded project.
6)Authorizes representatives of workforce organizations and air
pollution control or air quality management districts to be
included as an eligible consortium for funds in the CASF Rural
and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account
(Consortia Account).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the CPUC anticipates increased costs of approximately
$260,000 to present county-by county-data on project progress
and provide detailed information of efforts to leverage non-CASF
funds in annual reports. Staff would also be required to
process the additional applications and conduct administrative
tasks related to grant oversight and reimbursement for
applications from workforce organizations and air quality
districts.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "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. The funds in the Public Housing program are
beneficial to low-income residents who would otherwise be
without broadband service - and therefore, opportunities for
employment, economic development, health improvements,
services, etc."
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2)Background: The CASF was statutorily established by the
Legislature through SB 1193 (Padilla), Chapter 393, Statutes
of 2008, to help promote the deployment of broadband
infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of the state.
The goal of the program was to reach areas of the state that
had dial-up internet connectivity. The CASF is funded through
a surcharge collected on all telecommunications end-users. As
of June 2016, the CASF surcharge rate is at 0.464%.
3)CASF Accounts: CASF funding is allocated into four accounts,
the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account (Infrastructure
Account), the Consortia Account, the Broadband Infrastructure
Revolving Loan Account (Revolving Loan Account), and the
Public Housing Account. The Infrastructure Account funds the
capital costs of broadband infrastructure projects in unserved
and underserved areas in California. The Consortia Account
provides funding for the cost of broadband deployment
activities, other than the capital cost of facilities. The
Revolving Loan Account supplements financing for projects also
receiving CASF grant funding. The Public Housing Account
supports projects to deploy local area networks and to
increase adoption rates in publicly supported housing
communities. Currently, the CPUC is authorized to collect
$315 million for the CASF through 2020, but not to exceed $25
million per year, unless the CPUC determines that collecting a
higher amount in any year will not result in an increase in
the total amount of all surcharges collected from telephone
customers that year.
4)CASF Broadband Public Housing Account: In 2013, the
Legislature passed AB 1299 (Bradford), Chapter 507, Statutes
of 2013, which established the Public Housing Account within
the CASF. As of December 2015, there remains approximately
$22 million remaining in the Public Housing Account. Any
remaining funds in the Public Housing Account that haven't
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been awarded by December 31, 2016, is to be transferred back
to Infrastructure Account and Revolving Loan Account.
This bill extends the date remaining funds from the Public
Housing Account are transferred back to other CASF Accounts
from December 31, 2016, to December 31, 2020.
5)Resolution T-17515: In 2015, the Housing Authority of the
County of San Bernardino (HACSB), Community Housing Works
(CHW), and Eden Housing, Inc. (Eden), submitted applications
for CASF funding. The projects were challenged by two
Internet Service Providers (ISP) on the grounds that an ISP
was already providing service to those publically supported
communities. The subsequent review of the challenge concluded
that nearly all of the public housing application locations
were wired. HACSB, CHW, and Eden responded to the challengers
by asserting that "although the units may have wiring to
support broadband Internet service, residents do not subscribe
to that service because they cannot afford the service." In
June 2016, the CPUC approved $239,793 for the HACSB, CHW, and
Eden projects.
This bill requires the CPUC to prioritize unserved housing
developments for funds from the Public Housing Account.
6)CASF Annual Report: Under current law, the CPUC is required
to provide an annual report to the Legislature on January 1 of
each year on the status of the CASF. This bill extends the
due date on the CPUC annual report to the Legislature from
January 1 of each year to April 1 of each year. In addition,
this bill requires the CPUC to include more specified
information in its annual report.
7)Regional Consortia: Under current law, moneys from the
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Consortia Account are available only to eligible consortia's
to fund the cost of broadband deployment activities other than
the capital cost of facilities. This bill would add
representatives of workforce organizations and air pollution
control or air quality management districts as eligible
consortia that may apply for Consortia Account funds.
Analysis Prepared by:
Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN:
0004095