BILL NUMBER: AB 442 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 30, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 3, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Richman
FEBRUARY 14, 2003
An act to add and repeal Section 42122.5 of the Education
Code, relating to school finance. Article 11
(commencing with Section 910) to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of
the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 442, as amended, Richman. School finance: budget
disclosures Telecommunications: regulatory
streamlining .
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations.
Existing law authorizes the commission to fix just and reasonable
rates and charges. Under that authority, the commission has adopted
decisions adopting an incentive-based regulatory framework called the
New Regulatory Framework for certain telephone corporations.
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 does not
prohibit a state from 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 does not affect the authority of a
state or local government to manage the public rights-of-way or to
require fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications
providers, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis.
Under existing law, the Federal Communications Commission licenses
and partially regulates providers of commercial mobile radio
service, including providers of cellular radiotelephone service,
broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS), and digital
Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) services. Under existing law, no
state or local government may regulate the entry of or the rates
charged by any commercial mobile radio service, but is generally not
prohibited from regulating the other terms and conditions of
commercial mobile radio service. Where commercial mobile radio
services are a substitute for land line telephone exchange service
for a substantial portion of the telecommunications within a state,
commercial mobile radio service providers are not exempted from
requirements imposed by a state commission on all providers of
telecommunications services that are necessary to ensure the
universal availability of telecommunications services at affordable
rates.
This bill would require the commission, by January 1, 2005, to
commence a rulemaking or quasi-legislative proceeding to develop
rules for harmonizing the regulation of the communications industry
to eliminate regulations and policies that are no longer necessary as
a result of technological advancements and competition in the
communications industry, to promote competition, to promote
investment that will improve quality of products, quality of service,
and greater choices for consumers, and to promote economic growth.
The bill would require the commission to adopt a final decision
adopting rules by January 1, 2006. The bill would require that the
commission rely on competitive forces in the communication industry
to promote consumer choice and marketplace protection, whenever
possible. The bill would provide that the transmission of
communications over the Internet, whether by voice, data, video
streams, or any combination thereof, does not, solely by reason of
engaging in any of those activities, make a corporation or person
providing the necessary software, hardware, transmission service, or
the transmission path, a public utility or subject those activities
to the jurisdiction of the commission. The bill would require the
commission to report to the relevant policy committees of the
Legislature on recommendations for any statutory changes necessary to
comply with, or to advance the purposes of, the bill. The bill
would require the commission to use existing resources to comply with
the provisions of the bill.
Existing law makes any public utility and any corporation other
than a public utility that violates the Public Utilities Act, or who
fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule,
direction, demand, or requirement of the commission guilty of a
crime.
The provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and would
require an order or other action of the commission to implement those
provisions. Because a violation of those provisions or a violation
of an order or other action by the commission to implement those
provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program by creating new crimes.
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.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to
approve an annual statement of all receipts and expenditures of the
district for the preceding fiscal year and to file the statement with
the county superintendent of schools. Existing law requires the
board to hold a public hearing on the district's proposed budget and
requires the budget to show a complete plan and itemized statement of
all proposed expenditures. Existing law requires the governing
board of a school district to issue a school accountability report
card annually. Existing law requires the school accountability
report card to include, among other things, the estimated
expenditures per pupil and types of services funding, the quality and
currency of textbooks and other instructional materials, the total
number of the school's fully credentialed teachers, and the number of
teachers relying on emergency credentials.
This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring
the governing board of a school district with a pupil enrollment of
250,000 or more to provide to the public, until July 1, 2008, a
summary of the plan and itemized statement of all proposed
expenditures of the school district and to distribute that summary at
public hearings where the budget will be discussed. The summary
would be required to provide specified information on the prior and
current fiscal years and proposed budget year regarding, among other
things, expenditures for personnel services, expenditures for
facility maintenance, new construction, and modernization, average
operating expenses per pupil and expenditures for books, supplies,
and instructional materials.
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, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 42122.5 is added to the Education Code,
SECTION 1. Article 11 (commencing with Section 910) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
Article 11. Communications Regulatory Streamlining
910. (a) The commission shall, by January 1, 2005, commence a
rulemaking or quasi-legislative proceeding to develop rules for
harmonizing the regulation of the communications industry for the
following purposes:
(1) Eliminating regulations and policies for the communications
industry that are no longer necessary or appropriate as a result of
technological advancements and competition in the communications
industry.
(2) Promoting competition.
(3) Promoting investment that will improve quality of products,
quality of service, and greater choices for consumers.
(4) Promoting economic growth.
(b) The rules adopted by the commission shall protect existing
policies that provide for the following:
(1) Basic service at reasonable rates.
(2) Incentives and transfer payments to provide universal service
to low-income, disabled, rural, and high-cost customers.
(3) Access to, or use of, the infrastructure of incumbent local
exchange carriers by competitive carriers, consistent with
requirements of federal and state law and the Federal Communications
Commission.
912. The commission shall rely on competitive forces in the
communications industry to promote consumer choice and to advance the
interests of consumers, whenever possible.
913. The transmission of communications over the Internet,
whether by voice, data, video streams, or any combination thereof,
does not, solely by reason of engaging in any of those activities,
make a corporation or person providing the necessary software,
hardware, transmission service, or the transmission path, a public
utility or subject those activities to the jurisdiction of the
commission. Nothing in this section alters or affects state or
federal law regarding surcharges or regulatory fees on voice
communications over the Internet.
914. The commission shall, by January 1, 2006, issue a final
decision adopting rules consistent with this article. The commission
shall use existing resources to comply with this article. The
commission may issue rules and orders exempting the communications
industry, including telephone corporations, from existing rules and
orders of the commission, in furtherance of this article. The
commission shall report to the relevant policy committees of the
Legislature on recommendations for any statutory changes necessary to
comply with this article or to advance the purposes of Section 910.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution. to read:
42122.5. (a) Commencing with the budget for the 2005-06 fiscal
year, each budget of a school district with a pupil enrollment of
250,000 or more shall also include a summary of the complete plan and
itemized statement required pursuant to Section 42122. The school
district shall make the summary available to the public and, at a
minimum, distribute it at public hearings. The summary shall
include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(1) Itemized detail of the actual expenditures for the prior and
current fiscal years, and the proposed budget year expenditures for
personnel service, separately identifying salaries, benefits,
incentive bonuses, or other forms of remuneration. Personnel
services detail shall be further separately reported for certificated
staff, segregated by type of credential, and classified staff.
(2) The number and percentage of classroom teachers who are fully
credentialed and employed by the district for the prior and the
current fiscal years.
(3) The number and percentage of classroom teachers employed by
the district for the prior and current fiscal years who are serving
without full credentials, including holders of emergency credentials,
university interns, district interns, and preinterns.
(4) The total expenditures for facility maintenance, new
construction, and modernization for the prior and current fiscal
years.
(5) The average class size by grade levels.
(6) Itemized detail of the actual expenditures for the prior and
current fiscal years and the proposed budget year expenditures for
operating expenses, separately identifying contract services, debt
service, and capital expenditures. Contract services shall be
further separately reported for legal services, engineering services,
real estate services, and financial services.
(7) The average operating expenses per pupil for the prior and
current fiscal years, and the proposed budget year, separately
identifying the costs of textbooks, other instructional materials,
and instructional supplies.
(8) All revenues by source, including state, federal, and local
sources, separately identifying tax revenues from other revenues.
Funds derived from the sale of bonds, revenue anticipation notes,
certificates of participation, and other debt instruments shall be
separately identified by issue.
(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2008, and, as
of January 1, 2009, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
becomes operative on or before January 1, 2009, deletes or extends
the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.