Late last week, the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce approved
California’s application for over $70 million to implement its
Digital Equity Plan. This funding is part of the $1.44 billion
State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program (DEC) established
by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Throughout the 2023-2024 Legislative Session, CSAC has informed
you about vital legislative developments. With Governor Newsom’s
final actions now complete, CSAC has been publishing articles
highlighting new laws and vetoed bills in each policy area. This
week, we focus on Government Finance and Administration, covering
the impact of newly-enacted legislation on the Brown Act,
elections, labor relations, retirement, and more.
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA)
is hosting a meeting to discuss the administration of local and
district taxes. The meeting will be held virtually through
Microsoft Teams on October 3, 2024, from
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted $91
million within five counties for ten last-mile broadband
infrastructure grant projects and issued the seventh round of
proposed awards for
public comment late last week.
On Thursday, August 15th, the Senate and Assembly
Appropriations Committees completed their hearings on bills with
a fiscal impacts, commonly known as the “suspense file day.”
A recent opinion
issued by the Office of the Attorney General (AG) found that the
federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that
individuals with disabilities can participate in Brown Act
meetings remotely, without the need to post the address of their
remote meeting location. The decision could improve accessibility
for individuals with permanent or temporary disabilities serving
on Brown Act bodies.
The California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) recently
announced two new competitive grant opportunities for the
State & Local
Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP), including a funding
opportunity for the SLCGP for Local and Tribal Governments
Program.
Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
dismissed AT&T California’s application A2303003, that
requested to terminate their obligations as a Carrier of Last
Resort (COLR) and no longer provide basic telephone services.
This was welcomed news, as
CSAC and many counties were opposed.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) is seeking feedback
from local government, nonprofits, and other key stakeholders on
various components of the State
Digital Equity Plan implementation, the overall Capacity
Grant program structure, and sub-grant program design.
The California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Middle-Mile
Broadband Initiative (MMBI) team is seeking to better understand
how stakeholders plan to connect with the Middle-Mile Broadband
Network (MMBN), and to source input about the range of MMBN
services while establishing a communication channel for
stakeholders.
The month of May brought two key legislative deadlines: the
fiscal and house of origin deadlines. Earlier this month, the
deadline for fiscal committees to hear and report bills
introduced in their respective house to the floor passed. Over
1,000 bills were placed on the Assembly and Senate Appropriations
Committees’ Suspense Files, with about 30 percent of those
measures getting held on Suspense and are therefore no longer
active. Almost 70 percent of those measures moved on to the next
stage of the legislative process for Floor votes.
The State Controller’s Office (SCO) is soliciting CSAC’s
assistance with recruiting qualified candidates to fill two
impending vacancies on the SCO’s
Advisory Committee on County Accounting Procedures
(Committee).
As required by The ACCESS BROADBAND Act, which requires The
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
to submit an annual report to Congress, the NTIA released
The 2023 Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth Annual
Report last week. The report highlights federal investments
in high-speed internet programs.
On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, the California Supreme Court heard
oral arguments for Legislature of the State of California v.
Weber (Hiltachk). The case is a pre-election review of
Initiative #1935, titled the “Taxpayer Protection and
Government Accountability Act,” by its sponsors and given a
circulating title “Limits the Ability of Voters and State and
Local Governments to Raise Revenues for Government Services,” by
the Attorney General.
The Governor’s Office announced it will release the revised
2024-25 budget proposal on Friday, May 10th at 11 AM.
The Governor will begin a press conference around that time,
which will be broadcast on the Governor’s
YouTube channel.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued updated
guidance on compliance and reporting of State and Local
Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) authorized by the American
Rescue Plan Act. Additionally, the Department of the Treasury
scheduled two webinars in May on the same topic.
CSAC staff would like to share that the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) will host a second webinar
series, BEAD Challenge Portal Pre-Registration, Tier D/E
CostQuest Licenses, and Portal Overview, on May 8 from 10:00
a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The webinar’s focus is the Broadband
Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Challenge Process.
Last week, the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) launched the Digital
Equity Capacity Grant Program (DE Capacity Program), which
makes funding available for all U.S. states, territories, and the
District of Columbia to implement their State Digital Equity
plans. This grant program is available under the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law and offers $1.44 billion in funding.
Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to
upgrade the nation’s minimum broadband speed from 25 Mbps
download / 3 Mbps upload to 100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload to
better reflect the broadband needs of households.
As mentioned in a previous
CSAC Bulletin Article, CSAC staff would like to remind
counties about the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
ruling that AT&T California shall provide notice to its
customers of a
series of public participation hearings.
Despite CSAC’s
opposition, Governor Newsom signed
SB 553 (Chapter 289, Statutes of 2023), which added Section
6401.9 to the California Labor Code to require employers to
create workplace violence prevention plans. This law took effect
on January 1, 2024.
The California Public Utilities Commission has opened the
application period for the
Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Program from Tuesday,
March 12, 2024 through Tuesday, April 9, 2024
(no later than 4 PM).*
Late last week, the Board of State and Community Corrections
(BSCC) Board approved the release of a Request for Proposals
(RFP) for the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (Byrne
SCIP). Eligible applicants are California counties and cities.
According to the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC),
a comprehensive evaluation of their Proposition 47 grant program
suggests participants who utilized services made available by the
2014 voter-approved initiative are significantly less prone to
recidivism than those traditionally incarcerated in California.
The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Board will
host its first meeting for 2024 on Thursday, February 15,
starting at 9:45 am. The meeting attendance options are remote
via Zoom, in person at the BSCC Headquarters in Sacramento, and
in person at San Jose City Hall in San Jose.
The first agenda item will be a closed session to consult with
legal counsel regarding pending litigation. Agenda topics
include:
The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board
(Board) has released its
2024 Annual Report. The report continues to focus on the
Board’s prior work by analyzing additional ways to enhance law
enforcement and community interactions and reduce racial and
identity profiling.
Next week, NACo will release a peer exchange opportunity for
county and court representatives to travel to an innovative site
to learn from the hosts and exchange ideas.
Applications are open for NACo’s
County Juvenile Justice Innovation Network (CJJIN).CJJIN is a
nine-month community of practice that will identify challenges,
strategies and an action plan to better support youth by
strengthening county juvenile justice systems.
David Steinhart, Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program Director,
will be joining Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR)
Special Consultant LaRon Dennis to provide an update on the
legislation passed in 2023. This may include relevant foster care
and criminal justice legislation, and appellate cases that will
affect juvenile justice.
