CALIFORNIA EXTENDS TAX ON PHONES TO FUND HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

Californians could have higher cellphone bills after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws aimed at giving the state more money to build high-speed internet connections in unserved areas.

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California is one of 41 states that collect a tax on phone bills and uses the money to build high-speed internet connections. The laws Newsom signed make sure the state will keep collecting that tax — and collect more of it.

The laws don’t increase the tax, but it extends the tax, which was scheduled to expire at the end of next year. The laws make it easier for state regulators to change how the tax is collected, which will likely lead to people paying more on their cellphone bills. And the laws let the state collect more of the tax than it could before, up to $150 million per year.

The new laws are the final pieces of Democrats’ plan this year to make high-speed internet available to more people. Democratic leaders were prompted by the pandemic, which put the state’s broadband access into sharper focus once all of the state’s schoolchildren had to learn from home for most of the year.