A state bill to restore net neutrality protections in California that had been “eviscerated” by an Assembly committee in June sprung back to life this week and was easily passed by that same committee on Wednesday with its strongest open-internet protections restored.

The party-line 9-3 vote of the Assembly's Communications and Conveyance Committee sets the stage for a vote of the full Assembly next week, before the California legislature closes its current session on August 31, according to a report by The San Francisco Chronicle. 

The bill would bring back protections for California that were stripped away on the national level when the Federal Communications Commission repealed Obama-era net neutrality rules in June. Net neutrality rules are designed to prevent internet service providers from discriminating against data traffic from certain sources while favoring others. Without the rules, some companies may be able to pay ISPs extra for access to an internet “fast lane,” while those who lack the resources to pay could find their traffic slowed or even blocked.