On Wednesday evening, the Assembly narrowly approved one of the
key measures needed to close California’s Digital Divide.
SB 4 by Senator Lena Gonzalez squeaked by with 55 “aye”
votes, just one more vote than the 2/3 votes approval required.
The Senate passed the bill late this morning and it now heads to
the Governor’s desk. Coupled with
AB 14 by Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, which is pending on the
Assembly floor at the time of this writing, these two bills
ensure that critical broadband infrastructure funding does not
expire. View CSAC’s coalition floor alert
here.
Funded by an end-user surcharge on revenues collected by
telecommunications carriers, the California Advanced Services
Fund (CASF) was created to provide grants for last-mile broadband
infrastructure and related services. CSAF was reauthorized in
2017 with the statutory goal to provide broadband access to at
least 98 percent of Californians statewide and in each
region, but that goal remains unmet. Despite investments,
millions of California still lack access to reliable, affordable
broadband service.
SB 4 extends the operation of CASF through the end of 2032,
increases the annual limit on funds CASF can collect from $66
million to $150 million, and removes the cumulative cap of the
Fund. The companion measure, AB 14, extends the sunset on the
CASF surcharge from the end of 2022 to the end of 2032 and closes
a loophole that allows VoIP providers to avoid the charge,
ensuring the burden is not unfairly shifted to other telecom
customers.
CSAC strongly supports both SB 4 and AB 14, which each require
the other to pass in order to go into effect (an arrangement
called “contingent enactment.”) These measures are critical
to maximizing the impact of the recent $6 billion investment in
broadband projects approved through the passage of
SB 156 and finally closing California’s Digital Divide. CSAC
will continue to advocate strongly for both measures before the
Legislature adjourns for the year late Friday night.
