• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced a bicameral bill that would increase access to internet and telephone services for low-income urban and rural Americans, according to an Oct. 6 statement from Padilla’s office. The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would help states increase awareness and enrollment in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline program and Affordable Connectivity Program—which provide a monthly subsidy to help low-income households pay for their broadband and telephone service. “Access to high-speed internet and communication services is essential infrastructure. As the COVID-19 pandemic made abundantly clear, we urgently need to expand internet access to bridge the digital divide,” Padilla said in the statement. “We have effective programs in place to address internet disparities in low-income and underserved communities, but too many eligible Californians remain unenrolled. This legislation would bring together states, nonprofits, and community-based organizations to help American families enroll in these crucial internet and telephone programs.” According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, in 2022, 1 in every 5 households lacked access to broadband at home, and a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that 27 percent of non-broadband users cited cost as the most important reason they do not have broadband at home. The Affordable Connectivity Program has made strides to close the digital divide with 21 million households enrolled in the program, including more than 2.5 million households in California, according to Padilla’s office. However, experts estimate that an additional 27 million households are eligible for the program. Further, participation in the Lifeline program has dropped in recent years and remains low nationwide.
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, a legislation that will combat climate change while investing directly in American communities, according to a Sept. 27 statement from Carbajal’s office. “We do not have the luxury of time when it comes to getting to carbon neutral. We need to give big corporations a real, unequivocal incentive to shrink their carbon footprint. We need to put a fee on carbon,” Carbajal said in the statement. “With this legislation, not only do we require fossil fuel companies to phase out dirty fossil fuels. We also put money directly into communities that can then use that money to invest in our local economies, create jobs—especially jobs in clean energy sectors, which will be in higher demand. And in the end, we save lives from lowering our emissions curve, cleaning up our air, and keeping us on track to carbon neutrality by 2050.” The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would levy a carbon fee on fossil fuel emissions, incentivizing the transition to carbon-free production and supply chains through an escalating price of carbon to help meet the U.S. goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. These collected fees would then be paid out to every American in the form of a carbon dividend, allowing families to cushion against any temporary increases in costs associated with the transition to clean energy as well as stimulate economic growth through direct investment in communities.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to expand workers’ paid sick leave, guaranteeing five paid sick days per year and increasing the ability to earn and keep them, according to an Oct. 4 statement from Newsom’s office. Offering sick days helps save employers money through improved productivity and morale, according to the governor’s office. Working sick costs the national economy $273 billion annually in lost productivity, and two days of unpaid sick time is nearly the equivalent of a month’s worth of groceries. Increasing access to paid sick days reduces health care costs, with evidence showing that when workers have paid sick days, such costs go down and workers’ health is benefitted. “Too many folks are still having to choose between skipping a day’s pay and taking care of themselves or their family members when they get sick,” Newsom said in the statement. “We’re making it known that the health and well-being of workers and their families is of the utmost importance for California’s future.”
This article appears in Oct 12-22, 2023.