Techwire's 2017 Legislative Roundup (Part 1)

When lawmakers return from their spring recess next week, they return to a host of bills that seek to make information more available and easier to use — from how taxpayer dollars are being spent to whether state contractors have completed projects on time.

Several measures have come before lawmakers in the past, including setting baseline security controls for state agencies and providing identify theft protection. Other bills seek to bring technology to California’s roads, facilitate high-speed Internet and ban local taxation of video streaming services.

Here's Part 1 of our look at some of the key bills before the Legislature:

California Department of Technology

• Lawmakers on the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee will get their chance to weigh in on whether the California Department of Technology should develop a system to rate state contractors. AB 1546 by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Inglewood, would require the department develop a contractor performance assessment reporting system no later than 2019. The bill would require multiple contractor evaluations, a 30-day response period for contractors, information about the type of contract or project, and whether that contract or project was completed on time. In his veto of a similar bill last year, Gov. Jerry Brown said the measure duplicated efforts underway at the department. However, the department, which has convened a Vendor Advisor Council on procurement, has not yet put forward any performance system.

• A second bill by Burke, AB 1681, would require the director of the Department of Technology to issue a report about its development of a standardized performance assessment system for information technology contractors. The report would be due by Jan. 1, 2019.
  
  
• AB 1680 by Burke would require the Director of Technology to establish and oversee the implementation of a training program and curriculum for anybody engaged in the procurement of information technology. All three of Burke’s bills are scheduled for an April 25 hearing before the committee.
  
  
• State agencies and entities may need to submit a report next year to the Department of Technology about their Web accessibility. Legislation by Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, would require agencies to report their website accessibility testing and any efforts to resolve accessibility issues once every two years. AB 434 would also require the department to adopt a state Web accessibility standard by Dec. 31, 2018 and report to the Legislature how it would ensure state websites meet that standard. The bill is scheduled for an April 18 hearing before the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.

General Policy

• State highway construction crews are getting the signal they might soon be in the broadband business. AB 980 by Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, would require Caltrans to lay broadband conduit if they are leading a highway project in a community that is underserved or unserved by high-speed Internet. The measure is an effort by Wood to speed deployment of broadband in mostly rural areas of California where private companies have been unwilling to invest. The Assembly Transportation Committee approved the bill in March on a 10-3 vote. It is now awaiting a hearing before the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee.
  
  
• Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, wants to ban cities and counties from taxing video streaming services such as Netflix — at least for the next five years. AB 252 states that any taxation of video streaming services is a state concern and should be addressed in a uniform manner. The measure is scheduled for an April 24 hearing before the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee.
  
  
• A San Francisco lawmaker wants to let his city and neighboring San Jose test automated technology that tickets speeding drivers. AB 342 would allow San Francisco and San Jose to engage in a five-year pilot program of ASE systems on streets where traffic crashes are most likely to occur. The technology is used in more than 140 cities across the country, but it is not allowed under California law. The measure by Democratic Assemblymember David Chiu is scheduled for an April 18 hearing before the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
  
  
• Legislation that would establish a statewide framework for small-cell technology survived its first legislative panel earlier this month, with lawmakers seeking to satisfy consumer demand for faster, more reliable wireless communications. SB 649 by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, streamlines the permitting siting process of small-cell wireless facilities, such as low-powered wireless base stations that provide local connectivity. The measure has drawn strong opposition from the cities across California over concerns it would limit their decision-making. The Senate Energy, Utilities and Commerce Committee approved the bill by a unanimous vote earlier this month. It is now scheduled for an April 26 hearing before the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.
  
  
• In a move to bring more public scrutiny to state expenditures, Sen. Henry Stern, D-Los Angeles, is driving a bill through the senate that would require state budgets be made available online in a downloadable spreadsheet format. The state budget is difficult to analyze in the HTML and PDF format now offered by the Department of Finance. The Senate Government and Finance Committee approved SB 683 on a unanimous vote last month, and it is awaiting action before the Senate Rules Committee.
  
  
• A major reform to the California Advanced Services Fund would remove the limit on how much funding could flow into the fund for broadband deployment under AB 1665. The fund administered by the Public Utilities Commission set a goal of providing broadband access to at least 98 percent of Californians by 2015. A PUC report released in April found that only 43 percent of rural households had access to reliable broadband service. The bill by Assemblymembers Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, moves that goal to Dec. 31, 2023. The bill is awaiting a hearing before the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee.