BILL NUMBER: SB 1712 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2000
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 12, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 9, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Polanco
FEBRUARY 23, 2000
An act to add Sections 871.7 and 883 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1712, Polanco. Universal telephone service.
The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act requires the Public
Utilities Commission to establish a class of lifeline service
necessary to meet minimum residential communications needs and
establish rates and charges for that service.
This bill would require the commission, on or before February 1,
2001, to initiate an investigation to examine the current and future
definitions of universal service, seeking input from a wide cross
section of providers, users, state agencies, and convergent
industries and reporting findings and recommendations, consistent
with specified principles, to the Legislature. The bill would make
related legislative findings and declarations.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 871.7 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
871.7. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act, enacted in 1987,
was intended to offer high quality basic telephone service at
affordable rates to the greatest number of California residents, and
has become an important means of achieving universal service by
making residential service affordable to low-income citizens through
the creation of a lifeline class of service.
(b) Factors such as competition and technological innovation are
resulting in the convergence of a variety of telecommunications
technologies offering an expanded range of telecommunications
services to users that incorporate voice, video, and data. These
technologies have differing regulatory regimes and jurisdictions.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission
initiate a proceeding investigating the feasibility of redefining
universal telephone service by incorporating two-way voice, video,
and data service as components of basic service. It is the
Legislature's further intent that, to the extent that the
incorporation is feasible, that it promote equity of access to
high-speed communications networks, the Internet, and other services
to the extent that those services provide social benefits that
include all of the following:
(1) Improving the quality of life among the residents of
California.
(2) Expanding access to public and private resources for
education, training, and commerce.
(3) Increasing access to public resources enhancing public health
and safety.
(4) Assisting in bridging the "digital divide" through expanded
access to new technologies by low-income, disabled, or otherwise
disadvantaged Californians.
(5) Shifting traffic patterns by enabling telecommuting, thereby
helping to improve air quality in all areas of the state and
mitigating the need for highway expansion.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "feasibility" means
consistency with all of the following:
(1) Technological and competitive neutrality.
(2) Equitable distribution of the funding burden for redefined
universal service as described in subdivision (c), among all affected
consumers and industries, thereby ensuring that regulated utilities'
ratepayers do not bear a disproportionate share of funding
responsibility.
(3) Benefits that justify the costs.
SEC. 2. Section 883 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
883. (a) The commission shall, on or before February 1, 2001,
issue an order initiating an investigation and opening a proceeding
to examine the current and future definitions of universal service.
That proceeding shall include public hearings that encourage
participation by a broad and diverse range of interests from all
areas of the state, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Consumer groups.
(2) Communication service providers, including all providers of
high-speed access services.
(3) Facilities-based telephone providers.
(4) Information service providers and Internet access providers.
(5) Rural and urban users.
(6) Public interest groups.
(7) Representatives of small and large businesses and industry.
(8) Local agencies.
(9) State agencies, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) The Trade and Commerce Agency.
(B) The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
(C) The State and Consumer Services Agency.
(D) The Department of Information Technology.
(E) The State Department of Education.
(F) The State Department of Health Services.
(G) The California State Library.
(10) Colleges and universities.
(b) The objectives of the proceeding set forth in subdivision (a)
shall include all of the following:
(1) 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, in
education and workforce training, access to health care, and
increased public safety.
(2) To evaluate the extent to which technological changes have
reduced the relevance of existing regulatory regimes given their
current segmentation based upon technology.
(3) To receive broad-based input from a cross section of
interested parties and make recommendations on whether video, data,
and Internet service providers should be incorporated into an
enhanced Universal Lifeline Service program, as specified, including
relevant policy recommendations regarding regulatory and statutory
changes and funding options that are consistent with the principles
set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 871.7.
(4) To reevaluate prior definitions of basic service in a manner
that will, to the extent feasible, effectively incorporate the latest
technologies to provide all California residents with all of the
following:
(A) Improved quality of life.
(B) Expanded access to public and private resources for education,
training, and commerce.
(C) Increased access to public resources enhancing public health
and safety.
(D) Assistance in bridging the "digital divide" through expanded
access to new technologies by low income, disabled, or otherwise
disadvantaged Californians.
(5) To assess projected costs of providing enhanced universal
lifeline service in accordance with the intent of this article, and
to delineate the subsidy support needed to maintain the redefined
scope of universal service in a competitive market.
(6) To design and recommend an equitable and broad-based subsidy
support mechanism for universal service in competitive markets in a
manner that conforms with subdivision (c) of Section 871.7.
(7) To develop a process to periodically review and revise the
definition of universal service to reflect new technologies and
markets consistent with subdivision (c) of Section 871.7.
(8) To consider whether similar regulatory treatment for the
provision of similar services is appropriate and feasible.
(c) In conducting its investigation, the commission shall take
into account the role played by a number of diverse but convergent
industries and providers, even though many of these entities are not
subject to economic regulation by the commission or any other
government entity.
(d) The recommendations of the commission shall be consistent with
state policies for telecommunications as set forth in Section 709,
and with all of the following principles:
(1) Universal service shall, to the extent feasible, be provided
at affordable prices regardless of linguistic, cultural, ethnic,
physical, financial, and geographic considerations.
(2) Consumers shall be provided access to all information needed
to allow timely and informed choices about telecommunications
products and services that are part of the universal service program
and how best to use them.
(3) Education, health care, community, and government institutions
shall be positioned as early recipients of new and emerging
technologies so as to maximize the economic and social benefits of
these services.
(e) The commission shall complete its investigation and report to
the Legislature its findings and recommendations on or before January
1, 2002.