BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1212
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB
1212 (Hueso) - As Amended June 20, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 35-3
SUBJECT: "2-1-1" information and referral network
SUMMARY: Authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to expend up to $1.5 million from the California
Teleconnect Fund (CTF) Administrative Committee Fund to help
close 2-1-1 service gaps. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the CPUC, if it determines that doing so is an
appropriate use of funds collected from ratepayers, to expend
up to $1.5 million from the CTF Administrative Committee Fund
to help close 2-1-1 service gaps in counties lacking access to
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information and
referral services, where technically feasible, through
available 2-1-1 service.
2)Authorizes 2-1-1 California to apply for use of the funds in
the counties that lack 2-1-1 services.
3)Specifies, if the CPUC determines that doing so is an
appropriate use of funds collected from ratepayers that the
costs may include implementation of a coordinated database
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that is owned by a city or county to provide referrals to help
with nonemergency aspects of disaster planning, recovery, and
response.
4)Sunsets the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2023.
5)States the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the
expansion of 2-1-1 services into those counties in California
where they are lacking and to support a comprehensive
statewide database that will connect all callers to the
information and referrals they need.
6)States the intent of the Legislature to facilitate access to
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information, and
referral services, uniformly in the state, especially in
hard-to-serve rural areas, through a universally available
2-1-1 telephone service.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the CPUC to supervise and regulate every public
utility in the State and may do all things, whether
specifically designated as specified or in addition thereto,
which are necessary and convenient in the exercise of such
power and jurisdiction. (Public Utilities Code Section 701)
2)Creates the CTF Administrative Committee, which is an advisory
board to advise the CPUC regarding the development,
implementation, and administration of a program to advance
universal service by providing discounted rates to qualifying
schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, community colleges, libraries, hospitals, health
clinics, and community organizations, as specified, and to
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carry out the program pursuant to the CPUC direction, control,
and approval. (Public Utilities Code Section 280)
3)Specifies that moneys appropriated from the CTF Administrative
Committee Fund to the CPUC shall be utilized exclusively by
the CPUC for the specified program, including all costs of the
board and the commission associated with the administration
and oversight of the program and the fund. (Public Utilities
Code Section 280)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: "When an earthquake or natural disaster
strikes, many Californians rely on the services that 2-1-1
California provides them, such as information regarding
evacuations, return routes, access to food and water, traffic
closures and safe zones. However, there are 21 counties in
this state that currently lack this service [?] We should be
doing everything in our power to ensure that people of this
state have access to the services they need. That is why
2-1-1 is a powerful tool as it is designed to accomplish just
that and connect people with services available locally and
provide access to needs such as food insecurity, housing
resources and mental health needs in addition to disaster
relief. This bill will lay the groundwork for statewide
coordination and funding to ensure all residents of California
can access this critical service regardless of the region from
which they are calling."
2)Background: Similar to 9-1-1, for emergency services, and
3-1-1, for non-emergency services, 2-1-1 is a nationally
designated three digit number used for accessing community
information and referral providers. 2-1-1 is available 24
hours a day, seven days a week and in 150 different languages.
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Upon dialing 2-1-1 a caller is routed to a 2-1-1 call center,
where, depending on the type of information being sought, the
caller is referred to an appropriate social services agency,
for information regarding housing, utility bills, food, child
care, senior service, counseling, job services, and other
non-emergency situations not addressed by either 9-1-1 or
3-1-1.
In addition, during emergency or disaster situations, 2-1-1
serves as a public information hub, in which callers may call
for information on shelters, food distribution, evaluations,
road closures and transportation issues, utility outages,
school closures, medical and housing assistance, government
aid, mitigation and repairs, such as sand bags, emergency
alerts, such as riots and looting, as well as public health
warnings. Furthermore, 2-1-1 provides contact information
and access to many service hotlines, such as poison control,
suicide prevention, child and adult abuse, bullying, domestic
violence, veteran's issues, shelter, etc.
3)2-1-1 California: 2-1-1 California is a statewide network of
2-1-1 information and referral providers, and is a joint
endeavor of the California Alliance of Information and
Referral Services and the United Ways of California. 2-1-1
California works closely with local, state, and federal
government agencies and legislators, as well as the California
Office of Emergency Services, to ensure that Californians are
able to find help by calling 2-1-1. In California, 2-1-1 is
operated by private non-profit community service
organizations, local governments, or local affiliates of the
national organization of the United Way of America.
Currently, most counties with 2-1-1- services were funded
through partnerships between local health and human service
agencies and nonprofits. The CPUC is tasked with authorizing
one qualified local agency or information and referral center
in a county to use the 2-1-1 dialing code.
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4)2-1-1 Availability: Currently, 37 counties in California have
2-1-1 information and referral providers. Ten counties have
2-1-1 services in development, including Siskiyou, Lassen,
Plumas, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, and
Mono County. Ten counties do not have 2-1-1 services,
including Del Norte, Modoc, Trinity, Lake, Sierra, Amador,
Alpine, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Madera, and Inyo County. In
2015, counties with 2-1-1 received approximately 1.6 million
2-1-1 calls. Approximately 22% of those calls were for housing
related information, 13% for food and meals information, 10%
for health care information, and 9% for utilities assistance
information. Furthermore, during the 2007 San Diego
wildfires, 2-1-1 receive an average of 11,837 calls per day, a
30 time increase from its average of 400 calls per day at the
time. As there becomes more awareness of 2-1-1 and its
resources, arguably the number of 2-1-1 calls will continue to
increase.
5)California Teleconnect Fund: The CTF was created by the CPUC
in 1996, under Decision 96-10-066, to foster the development
of a telecommunications infrastructure for California and
reduce the digital divide. The program provides a 50%
discount on select telecommunications and Internet access
services to qualifying entities. Qualifying entities include
K-12 schools, libraries, municipal, county government,
district-owned and operated hospitals and health clinics,
non-profit community based organizations, California community
colleges, and the California Telehealth Network. The program
is funded by a surcharge on all end users of intrastate
telecommunications services. As of October 2015, the CTF
surcharge is at 1.080% on all telecommunications end users.
Communication services eligible for the 50% discount include
T1 and T3 lines, cable internet, digital subscriber lines,
wireless internet, and dial-up.
This bill authorizes the CPUC, if it determines that doing so
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is an appropriate use of funds collected from ratepayers, to
expend up to $1.5 million from the CTF Administrative
Committee Fund to help close 2-1-1 service gaps in counties
lacking access to disaster preparedness, response, and
recovery information and referral services, where technically
feasible, through available 2-1-1 services. This bill
authorizes 2-1-1 California to apply for use of the funds in
the counties that lack 2-1-1 services.
In addition, this bill specifies that the costs may include
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.
According to the sponsors, the funds are necessary to help
support startup costs for counties without 2-1-1 services,
such as connecting new counties to the existing 2-1-1
infrastructure and updating its databases to include relevant
information and resources from the new counties.
6)Arguments in Support: According to 2-1-1 California, the
sponsor of this bill, "Currently only 37 counties in
California have 2-1-1 services. The remaining 21 counties
that lack access to 2-1-1 services, while representing a small
percentage of the overall population, are some of the most
rural areas in California and are the most likely to be
negatively impacted in a disaster. Not only does lack of
coverage for these rural areas impact the area's current
residents, it also has statewide implications during emergency
and disaster response. As we all know, emergencies do not
discriminate by county line and, in some instances, residents
of one county are evacuated into a neighboring county
depending on the severity of the disaster. Furthermore,
individuals traveling across this great state for business,
work, or pleasure should have the ability to access the same
resources regardless of location. SB 1212 will help close
this gap and ensure that all residents of the state have
information on local services available to them in times of
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emergency."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
2-1-1 California (Sponsor)
2-1-1 Orange County
Advancement Project
American Red Cross
California Emergency Services Association
California State Association of Counties
Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County
Contra Costa Crisis Center
Corona-Norco United Way
Eden I&R/2-1-1 Alameda County
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First 5 Humboldt
Humboldt County
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services
Humboldt Network of Family Resource Centers
Los Angeles County, Chief Executive Office, Office of Emergency
Management
Orange County United Way
Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health Prevention
Early Intervention
Rural County Representatives of California
Sacramento Region Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
San Bernardino County
Supervisor Greg Cox, San Diego County
United Way of San Diego County
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United Way of San Luis Obispo County
United Ways of California
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Yolo County
One Individual
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
SB 1212
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