BILL NUMBER: AB 1206 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jerome Horton
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Bowen )
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bermudez)
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to add Section 1227 to the Government Code,
relating to public employment relations. amend Section
7943 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1206, as amended, Jerome Horton Public employment
relations: peace officers. Telecommunications: new
area codes.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations.
Existing law places notice and other requirements upon telephone
corporations whenever the telephone corporation proposes to establish
a new area code. Existing law requires the commission, before
approving any new area code, to first perform a telephone utilization
study and to implement all reasonable telephone number conservation
measures.
Existing law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
to create or designate one or more impartial entities to administer
telecommunications numbering and to make numbers available on an
equitable basis for telecommunications carriers, as defined. Existing
law provides that the FCC has exclusive jurisdiction over those
portions of the North American Numbering Plan that pertain to the
United States, but provides that these provisions do not preclude the
FCC from delegating to state utility regulatory commissions or other
entities all or any portion of the FCC's jurisdiction.
This bill would provide that a telephone utilization study does
not comply with the above-described requirements unless it is
performed within 18 months of the commission's approval of the area
code change and would require that any update of a prior telephone
utilization study separately set forth the progress made on each
recommendation in the prior telephone utilization study relative to
area code conservation measures. The bill would prohibit the
commission from approving a new area code if any recommendation for
area code conservation measures made in a prior telephone utilization
study has not been implemented, except for measures prohibited or
requiring action by the FCC. The bill would require that any update
of a prior telephone utilization study consider statutory changes and
any final or pending changes in the rules, regulations, or decisions
of the FCC relative to new area codes and area code conservation
measures, occurring since the prior telephone utilization study was
completed. The bill would provide that every telephone utilization
study or update of a prior telephone utilization study include a full
audit of all numbers in the area code that have not been assigned to
a customer or subscriber. The bill would provide that these changes
are applicable to any pending area code change decisions of the
commission, including any final decision of the commission that has
not been fully implemented as of January 1, 2006.
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and the Ralph C. Dills Act, which
govern public agency employer-employee relations and state
employer-employee relations, respectively, permit a public agency
employee representative of a recognized employee organization and a
state employee representative of a recognized employee organization
reasonable time off without loss of compensation or other benefits
when formally meeting and conferring with representatives of the
public employer on matters within the scope of representation.
This bill would, upon the request of a locally recognized employee
bargaining unit representing peace officers exclusively, require the
employer to administer an employee time bank, as described, to be
used by members of the employee organization for the purposes of
carrying out the business of that employee organization. The bill
would provide that members of a recognized employee organization
representing peace officers exclusively may contribute vacation time,
compensatory leave time, or other hourly time agreed to by the
employer and the employee bargaining unit to the employee time bank
account for use by employee bargaining unit members for employee
bargaining unit business. The bill would specify that all costs
associated with the administration of the employee time bank, are to
be borne by the employee organization.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 7943 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
7943. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that when the
commission has no reasonable alternative other than to create a new
area code, that the commission do so in a way that creates the least
inconvenience for customers.
(b) On or before March 31, 2001, the commission shall request that
the Federal Communications Commission grant authority for the
commission to order telephone corporations to assign telephone
numbers dedicated to wireless and data usage to a separate area code
and to permit seven digit dialing within that technology-specific
area code and the underlying preexisting area code or codes.
(c) Before approving any new area code, the commission shall first
perform a telephone utilization study and implement all reasonable
telephone number conservation measures. The telephone
utilization study does not comply with this requirement unless it is
performed within 18 months of the commission's approval of the area
code change. Any update of a prior telephone utilization study shall
separately set forth the progress made on each recommendation in the
prior telephone utilization study relative to area code conservation
measures. Except for measures prohibited or requiring action by the
Federal Communications Commission, if any recommendation for area
code conservation measures made in a prior telephone utilization
study has not been implemented, approval of a new area code
shall not be granted until the measure has been implemented. Any
update of a prior telephone utilization study shall consider any
statutory changes that became effective since the prior telephone
utilization study was completed. Any update of a prior telephone
utilization study shall consider any final or pending changes in the
rules, regulations, or decisions of the Federal Communications
Commission relative to new area codes and area code
conservation measures. Every telephone utilization study or update of
a prior telephone utilization study shall include a full audit of
all numbers in the area code that have not been assigned to a
customer or subscriber.
(d) If the commission receives the grant of authority set forth in
subdivision (b) and determines that further area code relief is
needed, the commission shall exercise the authority granted to it in
subdivision (b) unless it finds at least one of the following:
(1) Exercising the authority granted by subdivision (b) would be
more disruptive to the customers where area code relief has been
determined to be necessary.
(2) Exercising the authority granted by subdivision (b) will not
adequately extend the life of the area code where relief has been
determined to be necessary.
(e) The commission may not implement any authority granted by the
Federal Communications Commission pursuant to subdivision (b), in a
manner that impairs the ability of a customer to have number
portability.
SEC. 2. The amendments made to Section 7943 of the Public
Utilities Code by this act, shall be applicable to all pending area
code change decisions of the Public Utilities Commission, including
any final decision of the commission that has not been fully
implemented as of January 1, 2006.
SECTION 1. Section 1227 is added to the Government Code, to read:
1227. (a) Upon the request of a locally recognized employee
bargaining unit representing peace officers exclusively, the employer
shall administer an employee time bank to be used by members of the
employee organization for the purposes of carrying out the business
of that employee organization.
(b) Employer and employee policies and procedures regarding
employee leave, shall not be affected by this section.
(c) All costs associated with the administration of the employee
time bank, shall be borne by the employee organization.
(d) As used in this section, an employee time bank is an account
administered by an employer wherein members of a recognized employee
organization representing peace officers exclusively may contribute
vacation time, compensatory leave time, or other hourly time agreed
to by the employer and the employee bargaining unit to the account
for use by employee bargaining unit members for employee bargaining
unit business.