State Legislature - Week of August 21, 2009

 

State Legislative Update
 
State Legislature - Week of August 17, 2009
 
Task force for education technology.  Assembly Bill 836 (Torlakson) would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a task force for education technology.  The task force would be funded by private donations and would make preliminary recommendations on technology and literacy model standards and develop recommendations for a comprehensive statewide plan to increase and enhance the level of technology used to deliver instruction in grades 7 to 12 in California public schools. The state board would be required to adopt a comprehensive statewide plan based on the recommendations of the task force. This proposal was discussed in the Senate Appropriations Committee and moved to the Suspense File (held in committee).  CCTA position is Neutral.
 
Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge.  Assembly Bill 912 (Torres) would require that a minimum of 0.50% of the charges for intrastate telephone communications services and VoIP service to which the surcharge appliesbe allocated for those specified purposes and costs. This bill would require a maximum of 0.25% of the charges for intrastate telephone communications services and VoIP service to which the surcharge applies to provide a one-time payment to fund Primary Public Safety Answering Points personnel costs. This proposal was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee this week and is now on the Senate Floor.  CCTA position is Neutral.
 

Broadband Communications.  Assembly Bill 1012 (V. Manuel Perez) would require theState Chief Information Officer (CIO) to access and administer any moneys received by the state pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that are directed for broadband-related activities, programs, or projects. The bill would require the CIO, no later than 30 days after the effective date of this bill, to develop a strategy to expedite accessing those funds, including the requirement to specify actions that should be taken to assess, fund, allocate, and install broadband in California's rural and underserved areas. The CIO would be required to submit the strategy to the relevant policy and fiscal committees in each house of the Legislature within 30 days of the preparation of the strategy. This bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and now moves to the Senate Floor.  CCTA position is Neutral.

 

Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Programs.  Existing law requires the California Public Utilities Commission to oversee the administration of the state's universal service programs, including the deaf and disabled programs.

 

The deaf and disabled universal service program, among other things, requires the commission to design and implement a program to provide a telecommunications device capable of serving the needs of individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, together with a single party line, at no additional charge to the basic exchange rate, to any subscriber who is certified as an individual who is deaf or hearing impaired. The programs are funded by a surcharge not to exceed 0.5% applied to a subscriber's intrastate telephone service. This program is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2010. 

 

Assembly Bill 1553 (Fuentes) would simply extend the sunset date of the program until January 1, 2014.  This bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week and is now on the Senate floor for Third Reading.  CCTA position is Neutral.

 

Personal Information: Privacy.  Existing law requires businesses in California that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information to disclose any breach of the security of the system or data, as defined, following discovery or notification of the security breach person whose unencrypted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person.

 

Senate Bill 20 would require any agency, person, or business that is required to issue a security breach notification to provide additional notification, including the type of personal information believed to have been the subject of the breech; the possible date or range of dates of the breech; the possible number of persons affected by the breech; the toll-free number of major credit reporting agencies; and a general description of the breech incident. The bill would also require any agency, person, or business that is required to issue a security breach notification to more than 500 California residents pursuant to existing law to electronically submit a single sample copy of that security breach notification to the Attorney General.

 

This bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week. It was amended to eliminate reporting requirement on the possible number of persons affected. This measure now moves to the Assembly Floor. CCTA position is Neutral.

 

Education: Public Meetings and Hearings.  Existing law requires that the State Board of Education and the State Allocation Board to hold their meetings in an open and public manner.  Senate Bill 312 (Romero) would require the State Board of Education and the State Allocation Board to provide for live video and audio transmission of all meetings and hearings that are open to the public through a technology that is accessible to as large a segment of the public as possible. The technologies to be used would include, but not be limited to, cable, satellite, over-the-air, or any other type of transmission that can be accessed through a television, and Webcast. The State Board of Education and the State Allocation Board would be required to ensure that any Web cast transmission implemented pursuant to these provisions be transmitted over and accessed through the K-12 High-Speed Network. The State Board of Education and the State Allocation Board also would be required to consult with the State Chief Information Officer for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the bill. This bill was approved by Assembly Appropriations Committee and has moved to the Assembly Floor.  CCTA position is Neutral.

Regulatory


SDG&E De-Energization Plan.  On August 20, the California Public Utilities Commission enjoined SDG&E from implementing its Emergency Power Shut-Off Plan until the Commission issues a decision on the merits of SDG&E’s Plan.

 
The Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued in response to the motion for a TRO jointly filed by municipal water districts, consumer groups, and local San Diego County entities. The Commission’s decision reverses a ruling by the Administrative Law Judge which denied the TRO. CCTA, Cox, and TWC submitted comments urging the Commission to reverse the ALJ Ruling and to grant the TRO request. The TRO is in place until the Commission acts on the SDG&E de-energization application. The Commission will consider a proposed decision by Commissioner Simon that partially grants SDG&E’s request by establishing a pilot de-energization project and an alternate proposed decision by the ALJ that rejects the SDG&E plan outright.
 
CCTA plans to join with other plan opponents in filing comments opposed to the Proposed Decision. We will also file separate comments that are supportive of the ALJ’s alternate decision. Those comments are due August 31.
Commission Votes To Approve Safety OIR Decision.  Yesterday the CPUC voted 5-0 to approve Commissioner Simon’s Proposed Decision in the Safety OIR. The Decision establishes GO 95-related measures intended to reduce fire hazards before the 2009 Fall Fire Season.   The Decision appears to be a “mixed bag” for our industry.  For example, the plan to impose onerous GO 165 inspection and reporting requirements upon Communications Infrastructure Providers was dropped. The Decision also provides useful clarification concerning what constitutes a “safety hazard” and establishes useful priority levels for planning corrective actions.  Also, the Decision makes no finding that communication facilities cause or contribute to fires.  One troubling aspect of the Decision concerns the adoption of new General Order 95, Rule 18 requiring an auditable utility maintenance program. Rule 18 appears to apply state-wide rather than to the Southern California Extreme and Very High Fire Threat Zones, though the Decision’s language on its applicability is ambiguous.  Moreover, when combined with the “patrol inspection” requirement imposed by Ordering Paragraph 1, the decision is unclear as to when CIPs are expected to have the auditable utility maintenance program in place.  CIPs have until September 30, 2010 to complete the patrol inspections.  We are working to determine how best to address and remedy this aspect of the Decision.