“A good friend of mine… calls this ‘the single mom with two kids bill,’” said California Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, speaking with Telecompetitor about the $15 internet bill she introduced last month.
“I always think about the single mom working two jobs — and her kids still have to get online and upload their homework to Google Classroom,” said Boerner.
Boerner, whose district extends along the coastline of southern California between San Diego and Carlsbad, serves as chair of the state’s Committee on Communications and Conveyance. The committee’s purview includes broadband, telecommunications, and several other areas (“…autonomous vehicles, moving companies, and, because I’m fun, party buses…”).
As committee chair, Boerner said she closely followed the progress of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which ended in the middle of 2024.
In direct response — and on behalf of all Californians, not just the people in her district — Boerner introduced Assembly Bill 353 (AB353), an affordable internet bill, to the California Assembly last month. “We’d all prefer that the ACP was back, and I wouldn’t have to legislate this in California,” Boerner said, “but we have to meet that need.”
According to the text of AB353, the bill “would require every California internet service provider to offer for purchase to eligible households, as defined, within their California service territory affordable home internet service that meets minimum speed requirements.”
The legislation defines “affordable home internet service” as costing no more than $15 per month and “minimum speed requirements” as at least a 100/20 Mbps connection.
The California bill is similar to a law that went into effect in New York last year, which also requires providers to offer a $15 internet plan. While Boerner said the California legislation is not inspired by or based on the New York bill, she said the fact that the Supreme Court upheld the law “was our signal that states are allowed to create their own programs.”
“I’ve seen the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Program,” Boerner said, “and I’ve seen the need we have after it. And one of the things I like to remind people of is: it’s not a rural/urban thing, it’s not a northern California/southern California thing, it’s not a Democrat/Republican thing.”
If the bill passes, depending on where the income level for eligibility is set, six million people or more could benefit from the California internet bill. “We had 3 million people take the Affordable Connectivity Program… and that was about 50% of the need,” Boerner said.
Boerner’s committee will discuss the bill at the end of this month. From there, it would go to the state’s Committee on Appropriations, the California State Senate, and eventually to Governor Gavin Newsom to be signed into law.
Boerner is eager to see broadband — which she calls an essential service — available to everyone. “If you don’t have [broadband], you’re acutely aware of what you’re left out of. [Kids] cannot do their homework without the internet. You can’t do telehealth without the internet. You cannot apply for jobs without the internet. These are things that are essential parts of our lives.”
