California Lawmakers Combine State Net Neutrality Bills to Unify Effort

California State Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) announced that they are joining their respective network neutrality bills - SB 822 (Wiener) and SB 460 (de Leon) - to form one unified legislative effort to pass strong net neutrality protections in California . The two bills are being formally linked to one another so that both must be signed into law for either to take effect. The two bills are also being amended to be complementary, creating one unified and robust net neutrality policy - standards that have been described as the “gold standard” for other states to follow. In January, Senators de Leon and Wiener each introduced separate bills to establish net neutrality in California after the Trump-led FCC voted to abolish federal net neutrality protections. Since that time, as both SB 822 and SB 460 have moved forward through the Legislature and passed the Senate, the Senators have been in discussions about joining their efforts. In addition to linking the two bills, Senators de Leon and Wiener will sign on as joint authors to each other’s bill.