“TECH CAPITAL” STATE SENATORS FROM CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK ANNOUNCE BICOASTAL NET NEUTRALITY PROTECTION LEGISLATION

NEW YORK, NY/SAN FRANCISCO, CA – State Senator Brad Hoylman of New York (D, WF-Manhattan) today announced that he is working with State Senator Scott Wiener of California (D-San Francisco) on a bicoastal effort to restore the principles of net neutrality in their respective states. The legislators’ initiative comes after Senator Wiener announced legislation on Thursday in California to protect “net neutrality” regulations. Both senators’ legislation will be introduced in January.

Under current law, neither California nor New York has local net neutrality regulations, deferring instead to the federal government’s 2015 net neutrality order that reclassified Internet providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. 

Senator Brad Hoylman said: “New York and California can lead the charge against the disastrous decision by the FCC to end net neutrality. Working with Senator Wiener, I’m looking forward to crafting legislation to help preserve an open Internet and the free flow of information, which is so fundamental to our society.”

Senator Scott Wiener said: “Net Neutrality is essential to our 21st century democracy, and we need to be sure that people can access websites and information freely and fairly. States like California and New York must step in and ensure open internet access for their citizens. I am excited to collaborate with Senator Hoylman on this legislative effort.”

In February 2015, the FCC created a net neutrality order, which classified Internet providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. This prevented improper discrimination of certain websites or services by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The FCC voted on Thursday to eliminate this order, allowing ISPs to manipulate internet traffic in their networks, including blocking access or slowing down traffic to certain websites. It also passed rules seeking to preempt states from regulating network neutrality and broadband privacy.

Senator Wiener’s and Senator Hoylman’s legislation will establish net neutrality regulations in their respective states, which account for nearly one-fifth of the US population. There are strong arguments that states have the right to protect Internet access. 

The senators collaborated previously on legislation in their respective legislatures to require presidential candidates to divulge their taxes in order to appear on each state’s ballot. The bill passed the California State Legislature on September 15, 2017, but was subsequently vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown. Both senators have significant technology assets in their districts. Senator Wiener’s 11th Senate District in California is the headquarters for Twitter, Reddit, Dropbox, Lyft, Yelp, and Airbnb among others, while Senator Hoylman’s 27th Senate District in New York is home to Google, Facebook, and Twitter.