State Senator Durazo is sponsoring the Get Connected California Act. It would require any company that accepts grant money from two broadband-related state funds to offer plans as low as $30 a month for eligible customers. Both bills have until Aug. 15 to get out of committee. They also have to get passed from the senate and assembly floors before the legislature adjourns at the end of the month. Lobbyists representing internet service providers have been pushing back against the bills, again highlighting existing low-cost offers.
“The companies would have one excuse after another,” said Sunne Wright-McPeak, president and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund. “Never are they empowered to actually work on a solution.” She estimates private companies collected around $1.7 billion from the federal government to connect California households during the ACP, “plus whatever else they [made] upselling,” and that providers could get even more revenue “if they would just come to the table and talk with us.” “And we on the public interest side would help them by doing this continual outreach to those households that are qualified if they would agree to a common set of eligibility,” Wright-McPeak said.