BILL NUMBER: AB 57	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Quirk

                        DECEMBER 2, 2014

   An act  to amend Section 8886 of the Government Code, 
relating to communications.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 57, as amended, Quirk. Broadband communications infrastructure.

   The existing federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 preempts any
state or local statute or regulation that may prohibit or have the
effect of prohibiting the ability of any entity to provide any
interstate or intrastate telecommunications  service, but
  service. However, this provision  does not
prohibit a state from imposing   imposing, 
on a competitively neutral basis, requirements necessary to preserve
and advance universal service, protect the public safety and
welfare, ensure the continued quality of telecommunications services,
and safeguard the rights of  consumers. The prohibition also
contains a "safe harbor" that does not affect the authority of
  consumers, nor does it prevent  a state or local
government  to manage   from managing  the
public rights-of-way or  to require   requiring
 fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications
providers, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis,
for use of public rights-of-way on a nondiscriminatory basis.
   Under existing law, telegraph or telephone corporations may
construct lines of telegraph or telephone lines along and upon any
public road or highway, along or across any of the waters or lands
within the state, and may erect related poles, posts, piers,
abutments, and other necessary fixtures of their lines, but may not
incommode the public use of the road or highway or interrupt the
navigation of the waters. Existing law declares the intent of the
Legislature  that   that,  consistent with
this authorization, municipalities have the right to exercise
reasonable control as to the time, place, and manner in which roads,
highways, and waterways are accessed, but that for the control to be
reasonable it must, at a minimum, be applied to all entities in an
equivalent manner. 
   Existing law establishes the California Broadband Council in state
government for the purpose of promoting broadband deployment in
unserved and underserved areas of the state and broadband adoption
throughout the state, imposes specified duties on the council
relating to that purpose, and specifies the membership of the
council. 
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to promote the deployment of communications
infrastructure by removing barriers to investment.  The bill
would add the President of the Board of Directors of the League of
California Cities and the President of the Executive Committee of the
California State Association of Counties, or their respective
designees, to the   membership of the council. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) California consumers and businesses have adopted new,
Internet-based technologies and mobile connections at an
unprecedented rate. Internet-based products and devices, including
smartphones and tablets, are providing consumers everywhere with new
choices to connect, to communicate, and to access information and
entertainment.
   (b) The deployment of faster, more robust, and advanced wireless
and wireline broadband infrastructure is essential to ensuring there
is sufficient capacity and coverage to support the increasing
reliance of California residents on broadband services.
   (c) State and local review of broadband infrastructure deployment
serves important interests, but at the same time, California must
take steps to ensure that requirements do not hinder investment.
State and local permitting processes should be designed to eliminate
unnecessary barriers and spur deployment of infrastructure. This
includes streamlining permitting requirements to reduce delay and
cost, and the creation of uniform processes.
   (d) New and upgraded infrastructure delivers a vast array of
consumer and community benefits, including important improvements to
public safety, education, and healthcare. The power of mobile
communications is a critical tool for first responders in emergency
situations. According to the Federal Communications Commission,
nearly 70 percent of 911 calls are made from mobile telephones, and
that percentage is growing.
   (e) As we continue the transition to a knowledge-based,
technology-driven economy, California must invest in students and
provide them with the proper tools and technologies to bolster
academic achievement, starting with expanding access to high-speed
broadband Internet and next-generation Internet Protocol-based
networks.
   (f) Facilitating broadband deployment additionally plays a key
role in advancing telemedicine and mobile health applications, which
can help Californians remotely monitor their health while reducing
medical costs.
   (g) Wireless broadband is also key to economic development and a
driver for new business and jobs. Businesses increasingly depend on
strong wireless broadband service to carry their employees through
the work day. An estimated 94 percent of small businesses surveyed
use smartphones to conduct business and mobile technologies are
saving the country's small businesses more than sixty-five billion
dollars ($65,000,000,000) a year.
   (h) Broadband infrastructure deployment creates jobs. A 2013 study
conducted by the research firm Information Age Economics projects
that wireless infrastructure investment will generate as much as one
trillion two-hundred billion dollars ($1,200,000,000,000) in economic
growth while creating over 1.2 million new jobs, nationally, over
the next five years.
   (i) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
promote the deployment of communications infrastructure by removing
barriers to investment. Removing investment barriers is critical to
meeting the surging demand by California residents for advanced
wireless and wireline broadband technologies and services, supporting
and enhancing critical public safety needs, and bridging the digital
divide by increasing access for more Californians to improved
education, health care, and economic development opportunities.
   SEC. 2.    Section 8886 of the   Government
Code   is amended to read: 
   8886.  (a) The membership of the California Broadband Council
shall include all of the following:
   (1) The Director of Technology, or his or her designee.
   (2) The President of the Public Utilities Commission, or his or
her designee.
   (3) The Director of Emergency Services, or his or her designee.
   (4) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, or his or her
designee.
   (5) The Director of General Services, or his or her designee.
   (6) The Secretary of Transportation, or his or her designee.
   (7) The President of the California Emerging Technology Fund, or
his or her designee.
   (8) A member of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules.
   (9) A member of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly. 
   (10) The President of the Board of Directors of the League of
California Cities, or his or her designee.  
   (11) The President of the Executive Committee of the California
State Association of Counties, or his or her designee. 
   (b) Members of the Legislature appointed to the council shall
participate in the activities of the council to the extent that their
participation is not incompatible with their positions as Members of
the Legislature.