BILL ANALYSIS
AB 855
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 21, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Darrell Steinberg, Chair
AB 855 (Firebaugh) - As Amended: May 6, 2003
Policy Committee: UtilitiesVote:9-2
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill seeks to facilitate the placement of wireless
telecommunication towers and facilities on state-owned property
and to use a portion of new lease revenues from these facilities
to address the state's "digital divide." Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires the Departments of Transportation (Caltrans) and
General Services (DGS) to do the following with state-owned
highway rights-of-way and all other state-owned property,
respectively:
a) Compile and maintain an inventory, within 120 days, of
state property potentially available for lease to providers
of wireless telecommunications facilities.
b) Make the list available on the department's website.
c) Develop and distribute materials to local agencies
encouraging them to undertake (a) and (b).
2)Authorizes the Directors of Caltrans and DGS to lease
state-owned property for wireless telecommunications
facilities.
3)Requires that 15 percent of revenues from new DGS leases
pursuant to (2) are available upon appropriation for projects
to address the digital divide. These revenues are to be
deposited in the newly established Digital Divide Account
within the California Teleconnect Fund Administrative
Committee Fund, and for which the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) may use up to 5 percent for administrative costs.
AB 855
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4)Establishes the Digital Divide Grant Program, under which the
PUC shall award grants on a competitive basis to non-profit
organizations for community technology training programs.
5)Requires the PUC to report annually on the effectiveness of
the grant program.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time General Fund costs of around $25,000 each for DGS to
place its property inventory on their website and to
distribute materials to local governments.
2)Caltrans indicates that it would incur significant costs to
determine which of its properties, including the state highway
system, are available for lease.
3)Funding available for the digital divide grants would depend
on revenues from new DGS leases. If current annual DGS lease
revenues of $1 million were to double (this would take a
number of years), then $150,000 would be available for the
grant program. These revenues for grants would otherwise go
to the General Fund.
4)The PUC would incur special fund costs of about $80,000 for
one staff to establish the grant program and ongoing costs of
about $40,000 to administer the program. These costs are
greater than the five percent administrative costs authorized
in the bill.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The intent of this bill is to provide cellular
carriers the ability to place cellular towers on state
property while providing an additional revenue stream for the
digital divide. The author maintains that, making public
property available for such leases will expedite the
deployment of wireless communication service and minimize the
aesthetic impact of these facilities.
2)Prior Legislation . Last year, AB 468 (Firebaugh), which was
similar to this bill, was vetoed by the governor, who argued
that placing telecommunications facilities on state property
in local communities would thwart the discretionary review of
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local governments and that depositing the revenues into a new
digital divide account was akin to transferring revenue from
the General Fund.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081