Central to deploying that technology is a streamlined process that would allow telecommunications companies to more easily get permits and site small cells, which would deliver new, faster 5G Internet. Specifically, SB 649 would allow telecommunication companies to attach these devices in public rights of way and on utility poles, traffic lights and public infrastructure.
“It’s the bill that would make it easier and streamline the process to increase connectivity in the state of California,” the bill's author, Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, said during the Senate debate last week. “It will have an impact of lowering the rates of service for ratepayers."
Whether Gov. Jerry Brown will sign the bill is unknown because his office doesn’t comment on pending legislation. But Brown has a history of siding with local governments to make their own decisions. And that’s something, cities say, that this bill would take away from them.
No lawmaker spoke against the bill during the final debates last week on the Assembly and Senate floors, but a few raised questions about the role of local governments.
“I wonder to what degree local authorities have the right to determine where they are located and what the appearance would look like,” said Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville.
The bill won final approval after Hueso amended the measure to ensure that communities have more of a voice on both the aesthetics and locations of the small cells. But it still makes clear that small cells should be allowed in public rights of way.
Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, said the measure “carefully balances the authority of local government to impose reasonable permitting design and appearance specifications” while allowing telecommunications companies to quickly deploy thousands of small cells.
The Senate approved the bill by a 22-10 vote and the Assembly approved it on a 46-16 vote.
Here are some of the other technology-related bills lawmakers have sent to the governor:
- Lawmakers want to make it easier for state and local governments to preserve and store public records on “trusted” cloud-based storage services. Bill author Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, said AB 22 would allow government to replace the arcane, burdensome paper records that are often difficult to access, and increase transparency and access to public records.
- All state agencies and entities must certify that their websites are in compliance with accessibility standards under legislation by Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin. The requirement would go into effect July 1, 2019. AB 434 requires the California Department of Technology to develop a standard form that each state entity’s chief information officer can use to determine whether an Internet website is in compliance. Both the Assembly and the Senate approved the bill unanimously.
- The governor will have the opportunity to put into statute the cybersecurity center he established by executive order two years ago. AB 1306 by Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear, makes permanent the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC) at the Office of Emergency Services, tasking it with developing a statewide cybersecurity strategy. However, lawmakers included a last-minute provision that would allow the governor to suspend the center if federal funds are not available. An analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee estimated it could cost the state $1.8 million a year to operate the Cal-CSCI if federal funding dried up.
- Rural lawmakers spearheaded an effort to extend the California Advanced Services Fund, which provides money for broadband deployment in underserved areas. The Legislature revised the state’s goal for providing broadband access to at least 98 percent of Californians by 2022. The goal had been 2015 but a recent report found that only 43 percent of rural households had access to reliable service. AB 1665 authorizes the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to collect up to $330 million in taxpayer surcharges to work toward the new goal. That’s an increase from the current $315 million authorization.
- Lawmakers approved legislation that would allow physicians and pharmacists to more easily query a patient’s history of opioid use. AB 40 by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, would require the state Department of Justice to create an electronic history of controlled substances that have been dispensed to an individual based on data contained in its prescription drug database known as the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, or CURES. It would also allow an outside health information technology system to integrate and submit queries to the database.
- The state Department of Justice would be charged with issuing regulations to govern the use, operation, and oversight of any shared gang database in California under legislation sent to the governor. AB 90 by Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would also require the department to administer and oversee the shared gang database.
