Calif. Senate CASF Update Gets Legislative OK
The Senate half of a major California broadband proposal passed the legislature Thursday. Senators voted 29-8 without debate to concur with Assembly amendments to SB-4, which narrowly passed the other chamber Wednesday amid opposition by cable industry and other business interests. Senators later Thursday voted 28-8 to pass companion measure AB-14, which would still need final Assembly approval by Friday, the last day of session. Supporters expected Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to sign the bills to extend and update the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).
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Lawmakers redrafted SB-4 and AB-14 to be complementary to each other and to a previously enacted $6 billion broadband budget bill (see 2109010079). The plans include extending the existing CASF surcharge by 10 years, raising the surcharge cap to $150 million yearly from $66 million, requiring CASF grant infrastructure grant applicants to provide 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, defining households with less than 25/3 Mbps as unserved and prioritizing 10/1 Mbps or low-income households. Neither bill can become law without the other’s enactment.
Requiring a two-thirds majority, SB-4 got 55 ayes -- about 69% of the 80-member chamber -- in Wednesday’s floor vote. No Democrats voted no, but six didn’t vote. GOP members cast all nine no votes, with 10 Republicans not voting. The vote was stuck at 47-7 at the end of an initial voting opportunity Wednesday afternoon; it took nearly three hours from start to finish to garner enough yeas. “Took some effort to get to 2/3 or 54 votes today!” tweeted SB-4 supporter Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo (D).
“It was a suspenseful one, and at the end of the day, we came together with the two-thirds vote needed for the measure to pass because we know that this is an urgent and necessary piece of legislation that will help advance Digital Equity and improve the lives of many Californians,” said SB-4 sponsor Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D) in a statement Thursday. The Assembly had a “tight” vote on SB-4 after much “last-minute debate,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon told us. Opposition by the cable industry and California Chamber of Commerce made it close, he said. Falcon didn’t expect similar drama in coming votes on AB-14 because he said members are unlikely to change their positions.
“All's well that ends well,” said Tracy Rhine, senior legislative advocate for supporter Rural County Representatives of California. Republicans and the moderate Democrats who didn’t cast votes for SB-4 in the Assembly had problems with extending and raising the cap on the CASF surcharge, she said. California Chamber of Commerce's opposition Wednesday might have led to the close vote, she said.
Opposition
Cable wants lawmakers to focus on the $6 billion just allocated to broadband, emailed California Cable & Telecommunications Association President Carolyn McIntyre. “With barely a penny of that $6 billion spent, and a record state budget surplus, SB-4 barely passed the assembly last night because many of our state legislators agree that it is irresponsible at this time to burden California families with increased taxes on their monthly phone bills. If legislators grant the Public Utilities Commission new authority to collect billions in surcharges from California consumers, it is imperative that they demand a plan, transparency, and accountability from the commission.”
“This increased surcharge is unnecessary,” wrote the chamber’s Policy Advocate Shoeb Mohammed in a Wednesday letter to Gonzalez. More money is coming from the pending federal infrastructure bill, he said: CASF “is flush with funds.”
SB-4 would be a “great bill” for “next year” since broadband already got $6 billion this year, said Assembly Republican Randy Voepel, rising in opposition at Wednesday’s webcast vote. Kelly Seyarto (R) challenged the surcharge. Assembly sponsor Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) responded that the $6 billion was a good start, but extending CASF “will stabilize and minimize user costs long term.”
Other broadband bills advanced. The legislature passed AB-955 on highway permits when the Assembly voted 42-13 Wednesday to concur with Senate amendments. The legislature passed the cable-backed AB-1560 on distance learning after the Assembly voted 63-0 Wednesday to concur with Senate amendments. The Senate voted 37-0 the same day to pass AB-74 to require various California LifeLine enrollment and recertification processes. It needs Assembly agreement with amendments. The Assembly voted 61-0 for SB-28 to increase CPUC authority to check if state video franchisees are deploying enough broadband. The Senate must concur with Assembly tweaks.
“There are some important policy changes that still need to be made -- from prioritizing unserved communities by ensuring that middle mile infrastructure is only built where it isn’t currently available and that it’s coupled with real last mile connectivity, to modernizing the existing CASF program to speed up deployment -- which we believe are critical to making certain that this historic investment actually helps to connect Californians to broadband,” an AT&T spokesperson said.