BILL NUMBER: AB 2284	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 24, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 18, 2002

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member  Horton  
Goldberg 

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2002

   An act to add Section 710 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2284, as amended,  Horton   Goldberg 
.  Telephone corporations: employment.
   The Public Utilities Act governs the rights and obligations of
public utilities, including telephone corporations, and subjects them
to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission.
   This bill would provide that it is the preference of California,
consistent with state and federal constitutional requirements, that
the tasks and duties necessary for the rendering of intrastate
telephone service by telephone corporations be performed by
California residents.  The bill would prohibit this preference from
being used as a basis for any regulatory or civil action against a
telephone corporation or as a basis for preference by the state in a
contractual bidding process.
   Vote:  majority.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  no.
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)  Telephone corporations serve a vital function, providing
basic infrastructure essential to the efficient conduct of commerce
and societal interaction.
   (b) Telephone corporations bear a heightened responsibility for
contributing to the public interest.
   (c) The public interest has been interpreted to include providing
an adequate level of telecommunications service at a just and
reasonable rate. This interpretation has not explicitly included a
consideration of the benefits of telephone corporation employment to
the state and its residents.
   (d) Given the current poor economic climate and the high
unemployment rate within the State of California, it is necessary and
proper state policy to encourage the employment of Californians and
discourage the employment of non-Californians by California's
telephone corporations.  
   (e) The Public Utilities Commission has broad powers to regulate
the practices and rates of telephone corporations. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 710 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   710.  It is the preference of the State of California, consistent
with the federal and state constitutions, that the tasks and duties
necessary for the rendering of local telephone service within the
state be performed by residents of California.  This section shall
not be used as a basis for any regulatory action or any civil action
against any telephone corporation or as a basis for preference by the
state in a contractual bidding process.