BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SB 1212


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          SENATE THIRD READING


          SB  
          1212 (Hueso)


          As Amended  August 15, 2016


          Majority vote


          SENATE VOTE:  35-3


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                   |Noes               |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |----------------+-----+-----------------------+-------------------|
          |Utilities       |15-0 |Gatto, Patterson,      |                   |
          |                |     |Burke, Chávez, Dahle,  |                   |
          |                |     |Eggman, Cristina       |                   |
          |                |     |Garcia, Eduardo        |                   |
          |                |     |Garcia, Hadley,        |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |                |     |Roger Hernández,       |                   |
          |                |     |Obernolte, Quirk,      |                   |
          |                |     |Santiago, Ting,        |                   |
          |                |     |Williams               |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |----------------+-----+-----------------------+-------------------|
          |Appropriations  |15-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow,     |                   |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, |                   |
          |                |     |Chang, Eggman, Eduardo |                   |
          |                |     |Garcia, Jones,         |                   |








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          |                |     |Obernolte, Quirk,      |                   |
          |                |     |Santiago, Weber, Wood, |                   |
          |                |     |McCarty                |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
          |                |     |                       |                   |
           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 


          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  
            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 this 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  








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            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.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, this bill would have costs of up to $1.5 million,  
          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)Author's Statement:  According to the author, "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 [?] 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:  2-1-1 is a nationally designated three digit  
            number used for accessing community information and referral  
            providers.  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  








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            distribution, evaluations, road closures, etc.  Furthermore,  
            2-1-1 provides contact information and access to many service  
            hotlines, such as poison control, suicide prevention, child  
            and adult abuse, domestic violence, shelter, etc. 


            Thirty-seven counties in California have 2-1-1 information and  
            referral providers.  Ten counties have 2-1-1 services in  
            development.  Eleven 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.


          3)2-1-1 California:  2-1-1 California is a statewide network of  
            2-1-1 information and referral providers.  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. 


          4)California Teleconnect Fund:  The CTF was created by the CPUC  
            in 1996 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.  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. 


            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.  




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083  FN:  
          0004222