BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 2012|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 2012
Author: Speier (D), et al
Amended: 8/25/00
Vote: 27
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/25/00
AYES: Bowen, Brulte, Kelley, Mountjoy, Murray, Peace,
Solis, Speier, Vasconcellos
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-3, 5/25/00
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Karnette,
Perata, Vasconcellos
NOES: Kelley, McPherson, Mountjoy
SENATE FLOOR : 31-6, 5/31/00
AYES: Alarcon, Alpert, Bowen, Brulte, Burton, Chesbro,
Costa, Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Hayden, Hughes,
Johannessen, Johnston, Karnette, McPherson, Morrow,
Murray, O'Connell, Ortiz, Peace, Perata, Polanco,
Poochigian, Rainey, Schiff, Sher, Soto, Speier,
Vasconcellos, Wright
NOES: Haynes, Kelley, Knight, Lewis, Monteith, Mountjoy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-5, 8/28/00 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California Public Broadcasting Act of 1975
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill would appropriate $5 million to be
administered by the Office of Emergency Services (OES) for
CONTINUED
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matching fund grants to public television and radio
stations to install digital broadcasting equipment. The
bill would require stations receiving funding to dedicate
an emergency broadcast channel.
Assembly Amendments (a) reduce the appropriation from $25
million to $5 million, (b) provide that to be eligible for
funding, the state must also certify that it has a plan to
address the needs of linguistic minorities, and (c) add
co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Current federal law requires all television
stations to convert their broadcast signal from analog to
digital by 2003.
This bill provides $5 million in matching grants to public
television and radio broadcast stations to purchase and
install digital broadcasting equipment. To be eligible for
this funding, the public broadcasting station must (a)
enter into a permanent agreement with OES to dedicate, as
necessary, a broadcast channel for the provision of
emergency information in a format which is accessible by
the deaf, hearing-impaired, and non-English speaking
populations, and (b) certify that it has a plan to address
the needs of significant linguistic minorities in its
service area.
This bill allocates 75% of the funding to public television
broadcasters and 25% of the funding to public radio
broadcasters. Within those categories, half of the funding
is divided equally between the stations and the other half
is divided in proportion to the non-federal funding each
station receives.
Background
"Public broadcasting" includes both public television and
public radio, although the federal mandate to move from an
analog signal to a digital signal only applies to
television stations, not radio stations. There are 14
public television stations and 23 public radio stations in
California, none of which receive state support, and
according to the public broadcasters, California is one of
the few states in the nation that provides no public
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support for public broadcasting.
Pursuant to an act of Congress, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) has required that public television
stations change their broadcast signal from an analog
signal to a digital signal by 2003. Commercial television
stations also have to change to a digital signal, but they
have to accomplish the switch sooner than the public
television stations.
Digital television may well change the nature of
television, much as it changed the nature of
telecommunications, by providing clearer pictures,
increasing the number of channels, and providing data and
interactive features. The cost of this mandate is
significant, both for the broadcasters and for owners of
television sets. The Public Broadcasting Service estimates
the cost of complying with the mandate and upgrading its
production facilities to digital - which isn't required by
the mandate - will average $9 million per station, though
for large stations providing programming the cost could go
as high as $20 million. Some of these costs may be funded
by the federal government (though no federal money has yet
been made available), but most will be funded by other
public and private sources. A similar digital mandate for
public radio does not exist, but some speculate that such a
mandate will come soon. The total estimated digital
conversion costs for all of California's public
broadcasters, both television and radio, is estimated at
$140 million.
One of the significant benefits of the digital broadcast
mandate is that it creates additional broadcast capacity.
By broadcasting digitally, the broadcaster can use the
signal in different ways, such as to broadcast four
"regular-quality" signals or one high quality signal. This
bill encourages public television broadcasters to enter
into an agreement with OES to dedicate a channel for
emergency information by making state funding available for
the digital conversion to those stations that reach such an
agreement. This same incentive applies to public radio
broadcasters, although public radio broadcasters aren't
laboring under that same digital broadcast mandate. Public
broadcasters who do not enter into an agreement with OES
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are not eligible for the grant.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
One-time $5 million General Fund appropriation. (The
2000-01 Budget Act appropriated $5 million to assist public
television stations convert to digital.)
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/26/00) (Unable to reverify)
California Institute of the Arts
California Public Radio
California State University, Chico
The J. Paul Getty Trust
KRCB TV and Radio
KVPT-TV
Daniel J. Lanahan, Board Member KCSM TV and Radio
Wells Fargo
Numerous individuals
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ackerman, Alquist, Aroner, Ashburn, Bates, Battin,
Baugh, Bock, Brewer, Briggs, Calderon, Campbell,
Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Cox,
Cunneen, Davis, Dickerson, Ducheny, Dutra, Firebaugh,
Florez, Floyd, Gallegos, Granlund, Havice, Honda, House,
Jackson, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Leach, Lempert, Leonard,
Longville, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox, Maldonado,
Margett, Mazzoni, Migden, Nakano, Olberg, Oller, Robert
Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pescetti, Reyes, Romero,
Runner, Scott, Shelley, Steinberg, Strickland,
Strom-Martin, Thomson, Torlakson, Villaraigosa, Vincent,
Washington, Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins, Wildman, Wright,
Zettel, Hertzberg
NOES: Aanestad, Baldwin, Kaloogian, McClintock, Thompson
NC:sl 8/30/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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