Communications: broadband internet service providers: affordable home internet.

Assembly Member Boerner's California Affordable Home Internet Act would require internet service providers to offer $15 monthly broadband plans to households participating in public assistance programs. The plans must deliver speeds of at least 100 megabits per second downstream and 20 megabits per second upstream - sufficient for distance learning and telehealth services.

The legislation tasks providers with promoting these affordable plans through their websites and marketing materials. Starting in 2027, providers must submit annual reports to the Department of Technology detailing plan offerings, subscriber numbers, eligibility verification procedures, and pricing structures. The department would have exclusive oversight authority, with the Public Utilities Commission explicitly barred from rate-setting, compliance monitoring, or enforcement roles.

Certain providers would be exempt from the requirements, including small independent telephone companies, those serving fewer than 50,000 subscribers in areas without competing providers, and joint powers authorities. The provisions would become inoperative if a federal or state program begins offering monthly broadband subsidies of $15 or more to low-income households, provided the subsidized plans meet the minimum speed requirements and have sustained public funding.