Bill Text: CA AB156 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: State government.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 569, Statutes of 2022. [AB156 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB156-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
February 16, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
July 11, 2021 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
February 18, 2021 |
| Introduced by Committee on Budget (Assembly Members Ting (Chair), Arambula, Bennett, Bloom, Carrillo, Chiu, Cooper, Frazier, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Jones-Sawyer, Lee, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O’Donnell, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Blanca Rubio, Stone, and Wood) |
January 08, 2021 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes joint power entities created under that act to issue mortgage revenue bonds and industrial development bonds, as provided.
This bill would authorize those joint power entities to also issue revenue bonds for the deployment of broadband infrastructure by a public entity or nonprofit organization, as provided.
The County Service Area Law authorizes a county service area to provide any governmental services and facilities within the county service area that the county is authorized to perform, and that the county does not perform to the same extent on a countywide basis, and expressly authorizes a county service area to provide specified services and facilities, including, among
others, television translator services and low-power television services.
Existing law authorizes any municipal corporation to acquire, construct, own, operate, or lease any public utility, and provides that “public utility” for these purposes means to supply the inhabitants of that municipal corporation with specified services, including a means of communication. Existing law similarly authorizes a municipal utility district and a public utility district to acquire, construct, own, operate, control, or use works for supplying the inhabitants of the district with specified services, including a means of communication. Existing law authorizes a community services district to construct, own, improve, maintain, and operate broadband facilities and to provide broadband services if certain conditions are met.
This bill would authorize the board of supervisors of a county to acquire,
construct, improve, and maintain broadband infrastructure and operate broadband internet access service and any telecommunication services necessary to obtain federal or state support for the acquisition, construction, improvement, or maintenance of broadband infrastructure or operation of broadband internet access service.
Existing law establishes within the Government Operations Agency the Department of Technology, under the supervision of the Director of Technology, also known as the State Chief Information Officer. Existing law requires the director to, among other things, provide technology direction to agency and department chief information officers to ensure the integration of statewide technology initiatives.
This bill would establish within the Department of Technology the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy. The bill would require the office to oversee the acquisition and management of
contracts for the development and construction of, and for the maintenance and operation of, a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, as defined, to provide an opportunity for last-mile providers, anchor institutions, and tribal entities to connect to, and interconnect with other networks and other appropriate connections to, the broadband network to facilitate high-speed broadband service, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish a broadband advisory committee to monitor the construction and establishment of the broadband network, as specified. The bill would require the office to retain a California based nonprofit entity as a third-party administrator to manage the development, acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of the broadband network, and to submit annually a report to the budget committees of the Legislature on the broadband network, as specified. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, in collaboration with the third-party
administrator, to provide to the office the locations for the broadband network, as specified. The bill would prescribe contracting requirements for, and would authorize the use of job order contracting for, the construction of the broadband network, as provided. The bill would require the office to consider adopting rules to encourage or require internet services providers that use the broadband network to participate in the state and federal lifeline programs. The bill would require all state agencies to work in cooperation to expedite the delivery and permitting of the broadband network. The bill would declare that the broadband network serves a public purpose and would authorize the leasing of public properties for purposes of the broadband network for less than fair market value. The bill would authorize the office to establish reasonable user policies, perform reasonable network management practices, and create related standards and policies for the operation of the broadband network.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
This bill would exempt from CEQA a project consisting of linear broadband deployment in an existing right-of-way that meets certain requirements. By requiring a lead agency to determine the applicability of
this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law provides that the goal of the program is, by no later than December 31, 2022, to approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households.
This bill would revise and recast the CASF program, among other things, to establish as the goal of the Broadband
Infrastructure Grant Account, rather than the CASF program, by not later than December 31, 2026, to approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households and would establish the Federal Funding Account in the CASF. The bill would require moneys in the Broadband Public Housing Account to be available for grants and loans to low-income communities to finance projects to connect broadband networks that offer free broadband service for residents of low-income communities. The bill would require each entity that receives funding or financing for a project pursuant to the CASF program to report specified information monthly to the commission, and for the commission to post that information on its internet website. The bill would require the commission to use state or federal infrastructure moneys deposited into the Federal Funding Account to implement a program to expeditiously connect unserved and underserved communities by applicable federal
deadlines. The bill would require the commission to allocate the $2,000,000,000 appropriated to the commission to fund last-mile infrastructure in the Budget Act of 2021 to applicants for the construction of last-mile broadband infrastructure, as specified.
This bill would establish the Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund in the State Treasury and would continuously appropriate moneys in that fund to the commission to fund costs related to the financing of the deployment of broadband infrastructure by a local government agency or nonprofit organization, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law requires the commission, by certain dates, to conduct an interim and final financial audit of the implementation and effectiveness of the CASF and to report its findings to the Legislature.
This bill would instead require the commission, on or before April 1, 2023, and biennially
thereafter, to conduct a fiscal and performance audit of the implementation and effectiveness of the CASF program.
Existing law requires, until April 1, 2023, the commission to provide annually a report to the Legislature containing certain information regarding the implementation of the CASF program.
This bill would extend the obligation to submit the report indefinitely and would require the commission to either submit the report or the fiscal and performance audit described above on an annual basis.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because certain of the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
This bill would declare that it is to take
effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
