BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SB 1212  


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  August 3, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          SB 1212  
          (Hueso) - As Amended June 20, 2016


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Policy       |Utilities and Commerce         |Vote:|15 - 0       |
          |Committee:   |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission  
          (CPUC) to expend up to $1.5 million from the California  
          Teleconnect Fund (CTF) Administrative Committee Fund for  
          one-time costs to help close the 2-1-1 gap in counties lacking  








                                                                    SB 1212  


                                                                    Page  2





          access to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery  
          information and referral services. Specifically, this bill:


          1)Authorizes the CPUC to determine if expending funds from the  
            CTF Administrative Committee Fund for purposes of 2-1-1  
            expansion is an appropriate use of funds collected from  
            ratepayers. If the CPUC determines this is an appropriate use  
            of funds, costs may include local implementation of a  
            coordinated database that is owned by a city or county to  
            provide referrals to help with nonemergency aspects of  
            disaster planning, recovery, and response.
          2)Authorizes California 2-1-1 to apply for use of the funds in  
            counties that lack 2-1-1 services.


          3)Sunsets provisions of the bill on January 1, 2023.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Up to $1.5 million (CTF Administrative Committee Fund), over  
            five years, to assist California 2-1-1 with efforts to close  
            service gaps. The CPUC indicates they do not have prior  
            expertise with funding third party entities and would need to  
            develop a new administrative process to administer these  
            funds. The CPUC estimates annual administrative costs of  
            approximately $131,000 to fund one position to administer the  
            program.  



          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  While most counties have 2-1-1 information and  
            referral providers, 21 counties currently lack the service.   
            Specifically, the following 10 counties are currently  








                                                                    SB 1212  


                                                                    Page  3





            developing their 2-1-1 service: Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn,  
            Lassen, Mono, Plumas, Placer, Siskiyou, Sutter, and Yuba.  
            Another 11 counties lack the service and do not have programs  
            in development: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Del Norte, Inyo,  
            Lake, Madera, Modoc, Sierra, Trinity, and Tuolumne. 



            This bill authorizes the CPUC to expend up to $1.5 million in  
            CTF Administrative Committee Funds, over a five year period,  
            for one-time activities to expand 2-1-1 services. The CTF is  
            the California program that funds discounts for schools,  
            libraries, and community-based organizations for certain  
            communication services. The program is funded through a  
            surcharge on all customers that purchase intrastate  
            telecommunications services.





            According to the sponsors, 2-1-1 California, the funds are  
            necessary to help support startup costs for counties without  
            2-1-1 services, such as connecting new counties to the  
            existing infrastructure and updating databases to include  
            relevant information and resources from the new counties.





          2)Background. The national abbreviated dialing code for access  
            to health and human services information and referral is  
            2-1-1. The 2-1-1 dialing code makes a connection between  
            individuals and families in need and the appropriate community  
            based organizations and government agencies. During emergency  
            or disaster situations, 2-1-1 provides critical public  
            information, such as information on shelters, food  
            distribution, evacuations, road closures and transportation  








                                                                    SB 1212  


                                                                    Page  4





            issues, utility outages, school closures, medical and housing  
            assistance, government aid, mitigation and repairs, emergency  
            alerts, as well as public health warnings.  Additionally,  
            2-1-1 service providers offer contact information and access  
            to many local, state and national hotlines, including poison  
            control, suicide, child abuse, adult abuse, teen  
            bullying/cyber-bullying and other crises, domestic violence,  
            veteran issues, immediate shelter, food and health needs, and  
            many other social services that are not currently addressed by  
            either 9-1-1 or 3-1-1 services.   



            The CPUC authorizes one qualifying local agency in a county  
            the use of the 2-1-1 dial code.  The CPUC ruled in 2003 that  
            2-1-1 service would be established on a county-by-county  
            basis. California's first 2-1-1 service launched on February  
            11, 2005 in Ventura County. Currently, 2-1-1 service has been  
            approved in 37 counties, serving approximately 95 percent of  
            California's population.  Most of these counties have funded  
            their 2-1-1 services via partnerships between local health and  
            human services agencies and nonprofits.  





          Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081


















                                                                    SB 1212  


                                                                    Page  5