California Drive to Rev Up Internet Hits Assembly Roadblock at Finish Line

California broadband legislation appeared stuck hours before Monday’s legislative deadline. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D) won’t allow a vote despite agreement between the Senate and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), said supporters of SB-1130 by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D). “We are still trying to get something done on broadband before midnight,” George Soares, aide to Gonzalez, emailed us Monday. Failure would mean the internet speed standard under the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) stays 6/1 Mbps, and the dwindling fund won’t get more cash.

The Assembly sent SB-1130 to its “inactive file” Sunday. It would raise the state's definition of served to at least 25 Mbps symmetrical. Friday, the Senate sent to the same file the rival AB-570 that would make 100/100 Mbps the goal, while requiring 25/3 Mbps like the federal standard (see 2008190008). Lawmakers could still retrieve the bills from the inactive file before Monday’s deadline but must vote on many other bills. A COVID-19 outbreak last week reportedly forced Senate Republicans to quarantine and slowed legislative work.

Gonzalez reached agreement with Senate leaders and Newsom, Soares said. “We attempted to get the Assembly on board and they refused to accept the deal as changes to SB 1130 and didn’t provide any feedback other than that it was too late.” Despite saying that, the Assembly then amended multiple other bills, Soares noted.

“There never was a deal" that included the Assembly, emailed Rendon's spokesperson. "The Assembly was actively working on this legislation up until the last minute, but a deal was never reached." Newsom, Senate Leader Robert Hertzberg (D) and AB-570 author Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) didn’t comment Monday.

“The Speaker has blocked efforts to move forward and CASF is out of money by the end of this year,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon emailed Monday. “So not only do we need to figure out money but we will also need to address its programmatic failures in current law at the same time.” EFF is the main advocate for SB-1130. The Senate and Newsom were “ready to act,” but Rendon “intervened on behalf of AT&T and cable to block progress,” Falcon said. AT&T, Frontier Communications and the California Cable and Telecommunications Association didn’t comment.

“Nothing moving this session,” Rural County Representatives of California Legislative Advocate Tracy Rhine emailed Monday. With CASF’s surcharge authorization ending in 2022, the legislature will need to pass a bill next year, she said. SB-1130 and AB-570 are “presumed dead,” agreed Tellus Venture Associates President Steve Blum. Assembly leadership declined to consider SB-1130 even though there seemed to be “more than enough votes” to pass it, said the local government consultant, who supported the Senate bill.

CASF might soon run out of money because pending grant applications are two-to-four times the money available, said Blum. “We'll either end 2020 with nothing in the CASF infrastructure account, or with a relatively small amount of funds that'll be available for a final, short round of grants early next year.” The California Public Utilities Commission could raise the surcharge, deny or give less money than requested to certain applications or direct applicants to partly seek support from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, he said.

The Utility Reform Network expects the CPUC “to continue to administer CASF and fund broadband projects throughout the state, emailed TURN Managing Director-San Diego Christine Mailloux. The fund has “the budget to fund the projects that are currently queued up for review and the projects that are in the works,” but it doesn’t have enough money -- or the right contribution mechanism -- to support broadband to all Californians, she said. “It is disappointing to see the state so stuck on an issue that everyone agrees is so critical. This effort needs all hands on deck and policy makers should be able to put differences aside, ignore the profit motives of large incumbent commercial broadband providers like AT&T, to ensure that everyone in California is connected with broadband that allows for meaningful work and learn at home opportunities.”