Policy Resolution TST-17-02

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports access to broadband which leads to increased opportunities in education, health, employment, and entrepreneurship;

WHEREAS, African American and Latino communities are smart-phone dependent with a significant number of their members using smart phones as the sole or primary sources of broadband access;

WHEREAS, according to an April 2015 study from the Pew Internet Research Center, 48 percent of smart-phone dependent Americans have closed their smart-phone services as the result of a financial hardship resulting in a lack of broadband access to vital services such as healthcare, educational and job opportunities, and communications;

WHEREAS, free data plans, also known as sponsored data or zero rating, enable consumers to access certain content without it being counted against their allotted data;

WHEREAS, free data effectively works to reduce financial hardships of low-income consumers by reducing the cost of access to certain content thereby staying digitally connected to healthcare, educational and job opportunities and communications;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) encourages the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support free data programs as a cost effective policy for keeping low-income consumers connected to the internet;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NBCSL encourages the FCC in cases where claims of net neutrality are made, find that as a method of low cost access, free data serves to bring more consumers online and ensure that increased market demand for broadband access is met; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate, the Chairman and Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission and other federal, state and local government officials as appropriate.

• SPONSOR: Senator Valencia Seay (GA)
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Telecommunications, Science, and Technology Policy Committee
• Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Senator Anastasia Pittman (OK)
• Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
• Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President