May the 4th Be With Us, Winning, and Planning
It’s May, and we’re:
Observing Mental Health Awareness Month, honoring the tens of millions of us living with and managing mental health challenges and the friends, families, teachers, caregivers, and mental health professionals helping every day.
Celebrating wins (always).
Gearing up to flex our community power muscles!
Our monthly Digital Equity LA coalition meetings are now open to all community partners and allies (note: this is not a space open to industry representatives). Join us the last Wednesday of every month for information, updates, and planning. RSVP here.
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1. THIS THURSDAY: May 4th DELA City and County of Los Angeles Advocacy Day
Join dozens of your fellow digital equity champions for a day of community, learning, and ACTION as we convene at LA City Hall for community constituent meetings with our City of Los Angeles Council offices, the Mayor’s office, and our County Supervisors.
Click here to RSVP by 5pm today to get access to free parking, or by noon on Wednesday to ensure you’re on the list!
Want to learn more before you decide to join us? Our community prep and office hours are scheduled for today at 2pm. Click here to register for today’s Advocacy Day office hours.
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2. WIN! Thank you, Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee for Advancing AB41!
AB41, Authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden, the Digital Equity in Video Franchising Act of 2023 (DEVFA) advances long overdue reforms to California franchise law, known as DIVCA and passed out of the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee!
Next up: Assembly Appropriations Committee and then a vote by the full Assembly before heading to the Senate.
Sign on to the AB41 coalition support letter here: https://forms.gle/xu2Hbf86hKSdNNig8
DEFVA makes three critical fixes to DIVCA:
Establishes equal access as CA law, and adds anti discrimination provisions.
Directs the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish minimum service standards franchise holders must meet, along with a customer complaint process.
Establishes a robust renewal process that includes mechanisms for public input.
See the AB41 fact sheet for full details.
Action Items:
Sign on to the AB41 coalition support letter here: https://forms.gle/xu2Hbf86hKSdNNig8
Share the sign-on letter link with your networks
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3. MORE WINNING: New Broadband Maps
For the last several months, Digital Equity LA joined forces with partners and allies around the state to raise the red flag regarding maps purporting to document the digital divide that don’t reflect the reality of our communities. (Read the March newsletter for a reminder/primer of the issue.)
Thanks to coordinated collective action, we won a huge victory last month, and saw it come to fruition with a newly released set of maps from the California Public Utilities Commission that both center equity and better reflect what we know to be true on the ground. Click here to check out the new Federal Funding Account public map.
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4. OPPORTUNITY: Broadband for All Regional Planning Workshop, Friday May 19. @ LATTC
The Los Angeles Digital Equity Action League (LA DEAL), the County of Los Angeles Internal Services Department (ISD), the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), the California Department of Technology (CDT), and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) invite you to an upcoming workshop to seek input on the development on the State Digital Equity Plan (SDEP) and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Five-Year Action Plan.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the digital equity plan, provide feedback on how to make it more effective, and connect with others who are passionate about digital equity in California. Your input will help determine how future federal dollars are allocated to address digital injustice in your community!
Click here to learn more and register for the Regional Planning Workshop.
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Be in touch with what we missed! Hit reply with your comments, suggestions, feedback, resources, and calls-to-action. And share this link with anyone you think would appreciate getting these updates every month-ish.
Onward!
Shayna | Director, Digital Equity LA
Natalie |Deputy Director, Digital Equity LA