Cheryl Scheurer, PhD Testimony Opposing AB.537 at the Senate Governance and Finance Committee

I attest and affirm that these statements are true, accurate and within my personal knowledge.

I’m Dr. Cheryl Scheurer. My PhD is in Business Administration and Financial Management, and I’ve been working through my TV show and podcasts for nine years to promote the safety of life and property – the exact purpose of the Telecommunications Act, under which AB.537 falls, but which AB.537 violates. As a fourth-generation Californian and a direct descendant of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, one of the signatories of the US Constitution, I also intend to ensure that our federal and state constitutions remain intact. However, AB.537 is clearly in violation of both, in offering an open-ended contract for FCC to do whatever it may want in perpetuity, even though the Telecom Act Conference report states any attempts by FCC to further preempt state and local authorities, “should be terminated”.

AB.537 and related bills are not just an affront to Contract Law: they also sabotage the local control guaranteed by the US Congress. These bills would harm our cities when they are already down, threatening residents’ safety, health, environment, privacy and freedom from warrantless surveillance — just when localities and residents need protections the most. The Assembly knows these Bills are not of, by, or for the People, but rather bills written by ALEC and Industry lawyers rushed forward to avoid public scrutiny. We-the-People want wired communications for broadband – fiber-optics to the premises — for which we’ve already paid on our phone bills from 1995 to the present . . . NOT hazardous wireless broadband deployed far too close to homes and, using excessive power. You must abide by Title 47 U.S.C. §324, Use of Minimum Power, which states:

“In all circumstances . . . all radio stations. . . shall use the minimum amount of power necessary to carry out the communication desired.”

Yes, every Wireless Telecommunications Facility is a fixed radio station with frequencies licensed from the FCC. Section 324 applies.

When a home in Sacramento had a so-called small cell Facility constructed 60 feet from their second story bedroom in 2019, four things happened:

  1. The power inside the bedroom was professionally metered at 30 million times higher than needed for 5-bars telecommunications service. This is excessive and not the minimum power needed for communication.
  2. The 3-year old and 6-year old girls sleeping in that room were sick within three weeks. They were diagnosed by their doctor with microwave radiation illness.
  3. The family was forced had to spend over $15,000 to shield their home to address this child endangerment caused by the permit issued by the City of Sacramento
  4. The family permanently lost the quiet enjoyment of their street and lost the use of their front yard.

There is no basis for AB.537 to saddle California with draconian deemed approved state laws which go far beyond the FCC guidance and preference. To be within the law, vote NO on AB.537.

I accept and appreciate your oaths of office.