Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry of Winters announced at the California Economic Summit on Friday that she will reintroduce her broadband bill today. Senator Lena Gonzalez of Long Beach will bring back her counterpart measure as well, which proposes $1 billion in funding.
Aguiar-Curry said her bill would “provide the necessary funding and bonding capacity to pave the way for the statewide investments in future-proof infrastructure and high-speed internet access.” It would do this by authorizing grants through the California Advanced Services Fund.
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As negotiations between the two houses fell apart in the final hours of session last summer, both bills were pulled. Gonzalez blamed Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood for the action.
The two authors disagreed on the basic approach to broadband. Aguiar-Curry favored expanding access, especially in rural regions, while Gonzalez favored improving existing connection speeds in urban areas.
