A new bill in the California Legislature seeks to make California’s LifeLine Program — a service that provides discounted home and cell phone services — more accessible and more secure.
Sacramento Snapshot
Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.
From Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, the bill would require a judicial warrant before the state could turn over any records, data or applications for the LifeLine program to federal agencies, including immigration authorities. There are already some protection laws regarding the LifeLine program, Valencia said, but there are exceptions that allow data-sharing in certain instances.
“The goal is to close any potential gaps so eligible Californians can confidently apply for LifeLine without fearing their information might be misused,” Valencia said, adding, “There is valid concern regarding the possibility of governmental authorities accessing subscriber data through (the California Public Utilities Commission) or phone companies participating in LifeLine.”
Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim. (Photo courtesy of Avelino Valencia)Qualification for the program is based on one of two criteria: If an individual or household is enrolled in at least one eligible public-assistance program (Medi-Cal, National School Lunch Program, federal public housing assistance or CalFresh, for example) or if the total household’s annual gross income is at or below a certain level. That means at or below $24,400 for a one-person household or $48,400 for four people, according to the limits set through May 31.
According to the LifeLine program, a date of birth and the last four digits of a social security number or tribal ID number are required by the Federal Communications Commission to apply for or renew state and federal LifeLine discounts.
Valencia’s bill seeks to bar the state’s Public Utilities Commission from mandating social security numbers for the state program. The commission, providers and third-party administrators could request social security numbers but not require them to apply for participation.
“It’s not just undocumented individuals who might not have social security numbers,” Valencia said. “People fleeing domestic violence, unhoused individuals and those waiting on a new social security number due to identity theft often don’t have one either.”
The bill “ensures fair access for all these groups,” said the Democratic legislator. “California LifeLine isn’t funded by taxpayer money. It’s supported through a surcharge on California phone lines. This means some eligible applicants may have already contributed to the program through these surcharges, even though they’ve been unable to apply.”
AB 1301 has been assigned to the Assembly’s Communications and Conveyance Committee.
In other news
• If your Assembly member is a Democrat, you might not be seeing them on X, formerly Twitter, anymore.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, announced a mass exodus from the social media platform that is now owned by Elon Musk, the controversial tech billionaire who is playing a large role in the new Trump administration. Citing concerns about misinformation, fake accounts and hate speech, Rivas said he and 57 Democratic Assembly members have stopped posting from official state accounts on X.
What bills are Orange County’s legislators pushing this year? Check out our bill tracker here.“After careful consideration, I’m moving from X to Bluesky,” Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, whose district includes La Habra, posted on X on Thursday. She noted she will also continue to update her Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts.
Assemblymembers Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton; Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine; and Valencia, D-Anaheim, had not posted about the exodus as of Friday. They also had not posted on their official accounts since Rivas announced the plan.
Assembly Republicans, meanwhile, responded by launching an account on Bluesky as well, saying they “aren’t afraid of interacting with people who disagree with them.”
• Pacheco’s bill to allow diacritical marks on vital records — birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates — advanced out of the Assembly Health Committee last week in a unanimous vote.
The bill would require the State Registrar of Vital Statistics to use diacritical marks on an English letter for names recorded on those official records. It also provides a path for people to request their documents be corrected to properly reflect their name.
“For California’s diverse families, this isn’t just about a mark on a page — it’s about identity, accuracy, respect, and cultural heritage,” Pacheco said.
• Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, is behind a bill that would provide drowning prevention education in schools and swim lessons for children in low-income families — an effort meant to curtail child drownings. According to the bill text, the state would launch a voucher program for no-cost swim lessons for children whose families have an income of no more than 250% of the federal poverty level.
“We must ensure all children have access to swim lessons to prevent these tragedies, regardless of how much money their parents make,” Davies said in a statement. “Educating children and their parents about drowning prevention will save lives.”
• A bill that would require the state’s Department of Justice to investigate annually the top 10 gun dealers that produce the most firearms used in crimes saw early success in the legislature last week.
From Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who represents communities in southern Orange County, the bill would also give the state’s Justice Department the authority to de-license gun dealers that do not comply with inspection requirements. The idea, Blakespear said in a bill analysis, is to improve reporting and oversight to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of people who should not have them.
“Considering the number of firearms circulating throughout the country, it is not surprising that many firearms are lost, stolen or end up associated with a crime,” she said in the bill analysis. “We know California has tough gun safety laws, but the problem is ensuring that everyone is following them.”
It passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee with Sen. Kelly Seyarto, a Republican whose district includes Yorba Linda, the lone no vote.
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