Keeping Net Neutrality In California

Sacramento, CA – After the Federal Communications Commission scrapped rules requiring an equal playing field on the internet, key California lawmakers have reached an agreement on state net neutrality legislation.

The agreement comes two weeks after a state Assembly committee angered net neutrality advocates by scaling back the legislation. Bay Area Democratic Senator Scott Wiener authored the bill, but renounced it when major pieces were removed by the committee. Under this new agreement with Democratic Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, those provisions have been restored. In arguing for the bill, Santiago states, “Net neutrality equates directly to our ability to keep a people powered movement going. In the past, our nation had some dark moments in its history. During that time it’s burned our books, closed our libraries and it’s even denied us the ability to vote. Today, the destruction of the internet is equal to if not more than past measures to keep us in the dark –and that’s really what this is all about.”

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill after returning in August from a summer break. Internet companies counter that state-level net neutrality provisions are not practical.