AB2395: California Legislation Would Spell Destruction of the Landline Network

Update Friday, May 27th: AB2395 has been left in the “suspense” file and will likely not be moving through the legislature this year. All your calls, e-mails, and letters made a difference! Thank you for taking action to defend our landline telephones!

AB2395 is a bill currently before the California State Legislature that would permit AT&T to eliminate our essential copper landline network.

The bill would trigger the loss of thousands of solid union jobs, while reducing communication choices, and cutting off people who depend on wired systems including seniors, rural residents and those with electrical sensitivities.

AB2395 is purely about boosting AT&T’s profits while reducing consumer choices, harming rural areas of the state, and giving regulated corporations a free pass to destroy valuable public infrastructure while only offering vague references to alleged benefits.

AT&T and their shareholders would like nothing better than to escape their historical mandate to provide safe, reliable, affordable telecommunications to Californians. However, the potential economic damage resulting from the severing of this key, high quality, communications infrastructure is significant.

Further privatizing and deregulating essential public services will leave us not with advanced technologies but with systems that are less safe, less reliable, and less affordable.  If AT&T succeeds in pushing this damaging bill through, it is the public who will lose while AT&T reaps ever greater profits.

Take Action Now – Make Phones at the State Legislature Ring Off the Hook.

The California Assembly bill, AB 2395, that AT&T is pushing through the legislature to deregulate and discontinue analog copper landline phone service, has been referred to the Committee on Appropriations, who placed the bill on suspense on May 25th. They will vote on the bill Friday, May 27th.

We were told by Assembly staff, that if the bill passes Appropriations, it would then go to the full Assembly earliest May 31. If it has not  passed the Assembly by June 3rd, the end of the legislative session, then the bill dies. If the bill passes the Assembly, it goes on to the Senate earliest in August.

You can read the bill, and its amendments since the Committee on Utilities and Commerce hearing a couple of weeks ago, here: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2395

Assembly members are getting a lot of calls about this bill, so please keep calling (see contact info below). If you e-mail Assemblymembers, they may not register much more than the subject line, so please write in the subject line: I OPPOSE AB 2395

CONTACT ASSEMBLYMEMBERS. USE YOUR LANDLINE. (BATCHES OF EMAIL ADDRESSES TO COPY AND PASTE AS WELL AS FAX NUMBERS, AT BOTTOM)

You can also find online email forms for each committee member here: http://apro.assembly.ca.gov/membersstaff

Bill sponsor:

Evan Low
(916) 319-2028
Fax: (916) 319-2128
assemblymember.low@assembly.ca.gov
Ben.Golombek@asm.ca.gov

Appropriations Committee:

Committee members:

Lorena S. Gonzalez (Chair)
(916) 319-2080
Fax: (916) 319-2180
assemblymember.gonzalez@assembly.ca.gov
Evan.McLaughlin@asm.ca.gov

Frank Bigelow (Vice Chair)
(916) 319-2005
Fax: (916) 319-2105
assemblymember.bigelow@assembly.ca.gov
Kirk.Kimmelshue@asm.ca.gov

Richard Bloom
(916) 319-2050
Fax: (916) 319-2150
assemblymember.bloom@assembly.ca.gov
Sean.MacNeil@asm.ca.gov

Susan A. Bonilla
(916) 319-2014
Fax: (916) 319-2114
assemblymember.bonilla@assembly.ca.gov
Luis.Quinonez@asm.ca.gov

Rob Bonta
(916) 319-2018
Fax: (916) 319-2118
assemblymember.bonta@assembly.ca.gov
Dean.Grafilo@asm.ca.gov

Ian C. Calderon
(916) 319-2057
Fax: (916) 319-2157
assemblymember.calderon@assembly.ca.gov
Thomas.White@asm.ca.gov

Ling Ling Chang
(916) 319-2055
Fax: (916) 319-2155
assemblymember.chang@assembly.ca.gov
Christopher.Finarelli@asm.ca.gov

Tom Daly
(916) 319-2069
Fax: (916) 319-2169
assemblymember.daly@assembly.ca.gov
Jonathan.Arambel@asm.ca.gov

Susan Talamantes Eggman
(916) 319-2013
Fax: (916) 319-2113
assemblymember.eggman@assembly.ca.gov
david.stammerjohan@asm.ca.gov

James Gallagher
(916) 319-2003
Fax: (916) 319-2103
assemblymember.gallagher@assembly.ca.gov
Katja.Townsend@asm.ca.gov

Eduardo Garcia
(916) 319-2056
Fax: (916) 319-2156
info@votegarcia.com
suzanne.wierbinski@asm.ca.gov

Roger Hernández
(916) 319-2048
Fax: (916) 319-2148
assemblymember.hernandez@assembly.ca.gov
Don.Wilcox@asm.ca.gov

Chris R. Holden
(916) 319-2041
Fax: (916) 319-2141
assemblymember.holden@assembly.ca.gov
Robbin.Lewis-Coaxum@asm.ca.gov

Brian W. Jones
(916) 319-2071
Fax: (916) 319-2171
assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov
Leann.Files@asm.ca.gov

Jay Obernolte
(916) 319-2033
Fax: (916) 319-2133
assemblymember.obernolte@assembly.ca.gov
Teresa.Trujillo@asm.ca.gov

Bill Quirk
(916) 319-2020
Fax: (916) 319-2120
quirk4ad20@gmail.com
Tomasa.Duenas@asm.ca.gov

Miguel Santiago
(916) 319-2053
Fax: (916) 319-2153
assemblymember.santiago@assembly.ca.gov
Jackie.Koenig@asm.ca.gov

Donald P. Wagner
(916) 319-2068
Fax: (916) 319-2168
assemblymember.wagner@assembly.ca.gov
Sam.Cannon@asm.ca.gov

Shirley N. Weber
(916) 319-2079
Fax: (916) 319-2179
assemblymember.weber@assembly.ca.gov
Lisa.Martin@asm.ca.gov

Jim Wood
(916) 319-2002
Fax: (916) 319-2102
assemblymember.wood@assembly.ca.gov
Liz.Snow@asm.ca.gov

Committee Staff:

(916) 319-2081
Fax: (916) 319-2181

Pedro R. Reyes, Chief Consultant (Public Safety, Veterans)
Pedro.Reyes@asm.ca.gov

Chuck Nicol, Deputy Chief Consultant (Elections, Higher Education, Judiciary, Transportation)
Chuck.Nicol@asm.ca.gov

Jennifer Galehouse, Deputy Chief Consultant (Environmental Safety, Natural Resources, Utilities and Commerce)
Jennifer.Galehouse@asm.ca.gov

Misty Feusahrens, Principal Consultant (K-12 Education, Labor)
Misty.Feusahrens@asm.ca.gov

Lisa Murawski, Principal Consultant (Health and Insurance)
Lisa.Murawski@asm.ca.gov

Jennifer Swenson, Principal Consultant (Human Services, Local and General Government)
Jennifer.Swenson@asm.ca.gov

Luke Reidenbach, Senior Consultant (Agriculture, Finance, Governmental Org., PERSS, Rev and Tax)
Luke.Reidenbach@asm.ca.gov

Tresha Petit-Phar, Prinicipal Assistant
Tresha.Petit-Phar@asm.ca.gov

Laura Lynn Gondek, Committee Secretary
Laura.Gondek@asm.ca.gov

EMAIL ADDRESSES IN BATCHES TO CUT AND PASTE:
(I would send to all three batches, but separated them here, in case others have a different approach, or your email accounts have a recipient limit.)

Author and Appropriations Committee Members:

assemblymember.low@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.bigelow@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.bloom@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.bonilla@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.bonta@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.calderon@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.chang@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.daly@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.eggman@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.gallagher@assembly.ca.gov,
info@votegarcia.com,
assemblymember.gonzalez@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.hernandez@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.holden@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.obernolte@assembly.ca.gov,
quirk4ad20@gmail.com,
assemblymember.santiago@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.wagner@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.weber@assembly.ca.gov,
assemblymember.wood@assembly.ca.gov,

Chiefs of Staff:

Ben.Golombek@asm.ca.gov,
Kirk.Kimmelshue@asm.ca.gov,
Sean.MacNeil@asm.ca.gov,
Luis.Quinonez@asm.ca.gov,
Dean.Grafilo@asm.ca.gov,
Thomas.White@asm.ca.gov,
Christopher.Finarelli@asm.ca.gov,
Jonathan.Arambel@asm.ca.gov,
david.stammerjohan@asm.ca.gov,
Katja.Townsend@asm.ca.gov,
suzanne.wierbinski@asm.ca.gov,
Evan.McLaughlin@asm.ca.gov,
Don.Wilcox@asm.ca.gov,
Robbin.Lewis-Coaxum@asm.ca.gov,
Leann.Files@asm.ca.gov,
Teresa.Trujillo@asm.ca.gov,
Tomasa.Duenas@asm.ca.gov,
Jackie.Koenig@asm.ca.gov,
Sam.Cannon@asm.ca.gov,
Lisa.Martin@asm.ca.gov,
Liz.Snow@asm.ca.gov,

Committee staff:

Pedro.Reyes@asm.ca.gov,
Chuck.Nicol@asm.ca.gov,
Jennifer.Galehouse@asm.ca.gov,
Misty.Feusahrens@asm.ca.gov,
Lisa.Murawski@asm.ca.gov,
Jennifer.Swenson@asm.ca.gov,
Luke.Reidenbach@asm.ca.gov,
Tresha.Petit-Phar@asm.ca.gov,
Laura.Gondek@asm.ca.gov,

FAX NUMBERS:
(in case you have a fax machine that allows sending to multiple recipients)

(916) 319-2128
(916) 319-2181
(916) 319-2180
(916) 319-2105
(916) 319-2150
(916) 319-2114
(916) 319-2118
(916) 319-2157
(916) 319-2155
(916) 319-2169
(916) 319-2113
(916) 319-2103
(916) 319-2156
(916) 319-2148
(916) 319-2141
(916) 319-2171
(916) 319-2133
(916) 319-2120
(916) 319-2153
(916) 319-2168
(916) 319-2179
(916) 319-2102