California Advanced Services Fund: Broadband Adoption Account.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law establishes 5 accounts, including the Broadband Adoption Account, within the CASF. Existing law provides that moneys in the Broadband Adoption Account are available to the commission to award grants to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion, such as grants for digital literacy training programs and public education to communities with limited broadband adoption, including low-income communities, senior communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. Existing law provides that eligible applicants for moneys from the Broadband Adoption Account are local governments, senior centers, schools, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations with programs to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion. This bill would expressly include nonprofit religious organizations as being within the nonprofit organizations that are eligible applicants for moneys from the Broadband Adoption Account. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2749 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2749 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.