BILL NUMBER: SB 1046 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 7, 2002
INTRODUCED BY Senator Polanco
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to amend Section 22107 of the Financial Code,
relating to finance lenders. An act to add and repeal
Section 884 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public
utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1046, as amended, Polanco. Finance lenders
Telecommunications: Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Trust
Administrative Committee Fund .
Existing law, the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act, requires
the Public Utilities Commission to set rates, charges, and
eligibility criteria in order to furnish lifeline telephone service
to low-income citizens. The act requires the commission to conduct
proceedings to investigate the feasibility of redefining universal
service in light of current trends toward accelerated convergence of
voice-video, and data, with an emphasis on the role of basic
telecommunications and Internet services in the workplace, among
other purposes. Existing law establishes the Universal Lifeline
Telephone Service Trust Administrative Committee Fund to be used for
these and other related purposes.
This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2003,
to issue a plan and strategy for utilizing not more than 1/2 of the
surplus, if any, in the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Trust
Administrative Committee Fund for the purpose of providing incentives
to telecommunications providers that agree to promote equal access
to high speed communications networks by voluntarily offering
expanded telecommunications services, with a priority for providing
two-way voice, video, and data service, as components of basic
service, in currently underserved geographic regions of the state.
Existing law, the California Finance Lenders Law, requires a
person to be licensed by the Commissioner of Corporations in order to
engage in the business of a finance lender or broker. Existing law
requires a licensee to pay to the commissioner a specified amount
assessed by the commissioner.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision
relating to the payment a licensee is required to make.
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. Section 22107 of the Financial Code is amended
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The rapid development and deployment of advanced technologies
have been directly linked to the competitiveness of American industry
in world markets, economic growth, employment, and prosperity.
(b) Communications technologies, in particular, have proven
successful in helping to overcome economic and social polarization
that exist as a result of economic disparities among Americans.
(c) According to the Alliance for Public Technology, the economic
disparity among Californians is even greater than that of the nation
as a whole and the disparity among those living in the Silicon Valley
is even more severe.
(d) Many communities across the state are discovering that
expanded access to digital technology is an important element of
economic self-sufficiency and, as a result, are advocating public
policies that encourage aggregation or pooling of demand, vibrant
competition for local and long distance services, and network
investment in communities.
(e) High speed Internet access is also a critical tool for the
competitiveness for California's business community.
(f) According to the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce, many
small and medium sized businesses do not have a choice of high speed
Internet service providers and many have no high speed Internet
access at all.
SEC. 2. Section 884 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
884. (a) The commission shall, on or before July 1, 2003, issue a
plan and strategy to use not more than one-half of the surplus, if
any, in the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Trust Administrative
Committee Fund for purposes of providing incentives, as determined
by the commission, to telecommunications providers that agree to
promote equal access to high speed communications networks by
voluntarily offering expanded telecommunications services, with a
priority for providing two-way voice, video, and data service, as
components of basic service, in currently underserved geographic
regions of the state.
(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 2, 2003, and, as
of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that
is enacted before January 1, 2004, deletes or extends the dates on
which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. to
read:
22107. (a) Each licensee shall pay to the commissioner its pro
rata share of all costs and expenses reasonably incurred in the
administration of this division, as estimated by the commissioner,
for the ensuing year and any deficit actually incurred or anticipated
in the administration of the program in the year in which the
assessment is made. The pro rata share shall be the proportion that
a licensee's gross income bears to the aggregate gross income of all
licensees as shown by the annual financial reports to the
commissioner, for the costs and expenses remaining after the amount
assessed pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) On or before the 30th day of May of each year, the
commissioner shall notify each licensee by mail of the amount
assessed and levied against the licensee and that amount shall be
paid within 20 days thereafter. If payment is not made within 20
days, the commissioner shall assess and collect a penalty, in
addition to the assessment, of 1 percent of the assessment for each
month or part of a month that the payment is delayed or withheld.
(c) In the levying and collection of the assessment, a licensee
shall neither be assessed for nor be permitted to pay less than two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) per licensed location per year.
(d) If a licensee fails to pay the assessment on or before the
30th day of June following the day upon which payment is due, the
commissioner may by order summarily suspend or revoke the certificate
issued to the licensee. If after an order is made, a request for
hearing is filed in writing within 30 days, and a hearing is not held
within 60 days thereafter, the order is deemed rescinded as of its
effective date. During any period when its certificate is revoked or
suspended, a licensee shall not conduct business pursuant to this
division except as may be permitted by order of the commissioner.
However, the revocation, suspension, or surrender of a certificate
shall not affect the powers of the commissioner as provided in this
division.