California Senate Passes Net Neutrality Bill

California state senators 21-12 passed a net neutrality bill Monday that would make violations unlawful under consumer protection and unfair business practices laws and would bar state agencies from contracting with ISPs unless the companies certify as net neutral under penalty of perjury. It moves next to the Assembly. Voting on SB-460 fell mainly on partisan lines, except Democratic state Sen. Richard Roth voted no. Representing Riverside, Roth supported an open internet but, after researching the issue over the weekend, couldn’t find any net neutrality violations in the about two decades that the FTC had authority over internet services. The FTC, he said, "last time I checked, is still in business.” Enacting SB-460 would precipitate many complicated lawsuits in California’s overcrowded and underfunded trial courts, he said. “This is fairly pre-empted,” said Sen. Jeff Stone (R). The FCC restored a light-touch regime where the government stays out of the internet’s way, he said. Senate leader Kevin de León said only Congress -- not a regulatory body -- can pre-empt states. Opponents’ talking points are the same used in Washington to sway the FCC to overturn net neutrality, said de León, who's running for U.S. senator in a Democratic primary against Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Sen. Scott Wiener (D), with a separate net neutrality bill (SB-822), supports SB-460 because the FCC "abdicated its responsibility to protect the internet, and so we now are forced to step in.” Many states have net neutrality bills (see 1801290043), but California's moved quickly through committees and is furthest through the process (see 1801240041).