BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1389|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1389
Author: Ridley-Thomas (D), et al
Amended: 8/26/03 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 5-1, 7/8/03
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Dunn, McClintock, Murray
NOES: Battin
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow, Sher, Vasconcellos
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 8/20/03
AYES: Alpert, Bowen, Escutia, Karnette, Machado, Murray,
Speier
NOES: Battin, Ashburn, Poochigian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Burton, Johnson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-30, 6/5/03 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public Utilities Commission: reports
SOURCE : Communication Workers of America
DIGEST : This bill requires a public utility employing
more than 750 employees to report annually to the State
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) certain information
regarding its customer base, workforce, and capital
investments. The bill also requires the PUC to make the
information available on its website and to report the
information annually to specified legislative committees.
ANALYSIS : Current law defines public utilities as common
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carriers, telephone corporations, electric corporations,
gas corporations, and water corporations.
Current law requires every public utility to furnish and
maintain such service as is necessary to promote the
safety, health, comfort, and convenience of its patrons,
employees, and the public.
This bill finds that:
1.Public utilities serve a vital function, providing basic
infrastructure essential to the efficient conduct of
commerce and societal interaction.
2.In exchange for the grant of public utility status, those
utilities bear a heightened responsibility for
contributing to the public interest, including
consideration of the benefits of public utility
employment to the state and its residents.
3.It is proper state policy to encourage the employment of
Californians by California's public utilities.
This bill requires the PUC to provide an annual report to
the policy committees of the Senate and Assembly, and to
make the report publicly available through the Internet.
The report will contain the following information from a
public utility with over 750 employees:
1.The number of customers served in California.
2.The percentage of customers residing in California.
3.The number of California residents employed, on a
full-time or full-time equivalent basis.
4.The number of California residents employed as
independent contractors and consultants by the public
utility (applies only to those employees personally
providing services to the utility and only when the
utility has obtained the information upon requesting it
and is not contractually prohibited from disclosing such
information.)
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5.The percentage of each company's workforce that lives in
California.
6.The capital investment for the year.
Background
Every public utility is subject to the jurisdiction of the
PUC, subject to preemption by federal law or exemption by
state statute. The regulatory bargain has historically
been one where the government grants an exclusive franchise
to a utility in exchange for the utility agreeing to have
its profits limited, to meet service quality standards, and
to serve all qualified customers.
The concern over utility employment started in the
telecommunications industry as telephone companies, which
are public utilities, grew into multi-state operations.
Not surprisingly, this growth has provided opportunities
for companies to lower costs through economies of scale.
Telephone companies have sought to lower their costs by
consolidating activities, such as call centers and operator
service centers, and moving them to other states and other
countries.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Increased costs to the PUC should be approximately $95,000
annually. If the PUC must audit reported information,
costs could be higher.
The Public Utilities' Reimbursement Account revenues are
derived from an annual fee imposed on public utilities.
Therefore, any increased costs should be offset by
increased fee revenues.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/03)
California Coalition of Utility Employees
California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit
Union
California Conference of Machinists
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California Labor and Telecommunications Coalition
Engineers and Scientists of California, Local 20, IFPTE,
AFL-CIO
Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union
Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, IFPTE,
AFL-CIO
Teamsters
United Food & Commercial Workers Region 8 States Council
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/18/03)
AT&T
California Association of Competitive Telecommunications
Companies
California Cable & Telecommunications Association
Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association
MCI Worldcom
Pac West Telecomm, Inc.
Sprint
ASSEMBLY FLOOR
AYES: Berg, Bermudez, Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn,
Corbett, Correa, Diaz, Dutra, Dymally, Firebaugh,
Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Shirley
Horton, Jackson, Kehoe, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine,
Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Matthews, Montanez,
Mullin, Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza,
Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, Salinas, Simitian, Steinberg,
Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk, Yee, Wesson
NOES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Bogh, Campbell, Cogdill,
Cox, Daucher, Dutton, Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Houston,
Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie, Maldonado, Maze,
McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Pacheco, Plescia, Richman,
Runner, Samuelian, Spitzer, Strickland, Wyland
NC:cm 8/25/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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