Communications: California Advanced Services Fund: deaf and disabled telecommunications program: surcharges.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law authorizes the commission to impose a surcharge to collect $330,000,000 for deposit into the CASF beginning January 1, 2018, and continuing through the 2022 calendar year. Existing law specifies the amount of surcharge revenues to be deposited into each account within the CASF, subject to appropriation by the Legislature.
This bill would authorize the commission to impose the surcharge to fund the CASF until December 31, 2032, as specified.
Existing law requires the commission, until April 1, 2023, to annually report specified information to the Legislature, including the remaining unserved areas in the state, the status of the CASF balance, and the projected amount to be collected in each year.
This bill would require the commission to report that information in perpetuity.
This bill would authorize the commission to require each internet service provider, as defined, to report specified information regarding each free, low-cost, income-qualified, or affordable internet service plan advertised by the provider.
(2) Existing law requires the commission to require interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol service providers to collect and remit surcharges on their California intrastate revenues in support of specified public purpose program funds. Existing law authorizes those providers to use certain methodologies to identify their intrastate revenues subject to the surcharge.
This bill would repeal that authorization to use those methodologies.
(3) Existing law establishes the deaf and disabled telecommunications program and requires the commission to establish a rate recovery mechanism through a surcharge not to exceed 1/2 of 1% uniformly applied to a subscriber’s intrastate telephone service, other than one-way radio paging service and universal telephone service, until January 1, 2025, to allow providers of equipment and service pursuant to that program to recover their costs as they are incurred.
This bill would revise those requirements to instead require the commission to administer a surcharge to collect revenues of up to $100,000,000 per year until January 1, 2025, subject to annual appropriation of moneys by the Legislature, to allow providers of equipment and service pursuant to the deaf and disabled telecommunications program to recover their costs as they are incurred.
(4) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because certain of the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(5) This bill would become effective only if SB 4 of the 2021–22 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2022.
(6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.