BILL NUMBER: AB 219 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Utilities and Commerce (Wright (Chair),
Pescetti (Vice Chair), Canciamilla, Diaz, Jackson, Kelley, Papan,
Reyes, and Wesson)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Corbett)
FEBRUARY 9, 2001
An act to amend Sections 2881 and 2881.2 of, and to repeal Section
2881.01 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 219, as introduced, Committee on Utilities & Commerce.
Public utilities: deaf and disabled telecommunications program.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish
a rate recovery mechanism through surcharges on intrastate telephone
service, until January 1, 2001, to recover the costs for providing
telecommunications devices capable of serving the needs of the deaf
and hearing impaired and telecommunications equipment for the
disabled.
This bill would extend the requirement for those telephone
surcharges until January 1, 2006, and delete an obsolete provision.
The bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose
of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require
for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of each house of
the Legislature.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2881 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
2881. (a) The commission shall design and implement a program to
provide a telecommunications device capable of serving the needs of
individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, together with a single
party line, at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to
any subscriber who is certified as an individual who is deaf or
hearing impaired by a licensed physician and surgeon, audiologist, or
a qualified state or federal agency, as determined by the
commission, and to any subscriber that is an organization
representing individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, as
determined and specified by the commission pursuant to subdivision
(e). A licensed hearing aid dispenser may certify the need of an
individual to participate in the program if that individual has been
previously fitted with an amplified device by the dispenser and the
dispenser has the individual's hearing records on file prior to
certification.
(b) The commission shall also design and implement a program to
provide a dual-party relay system, using third-party intervention to
connect individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired and offices of
organizations representing individuals who are deaf or hearing
impaired, as determined and specified by the commission pursuant to
subdivision (e), with persons of normal hearing by way of
intercommunications devices for individuals who are deaf or hearing
impaired and the telephone system, making available reasonable access
of all phases of public telephone service to telephone subscribers
who are deaf or hearing impaired. In order to make a dual-party
relay system that will meet the requirements of individuals who are
deaf or hearing impaired available at a reasonable cost, the
commission shall initiate an investigation, conduct public hearings
to determine the most cost-effective method of providing dual-party
relay service to the deaf or hearing impaired when using a
telecommunications device, and solicit the advice, counsel, and
physical assistance of statewide nonprofit consumer organizations of
the deaf, during the development and implementation of the system.
The commission shall phase in this program, on a geographical basis,
over a three-year period ending on January 1, 1987. The commission
shall apply for certification of this program under rules adopted by
the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to Section 401 of the
federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public
Law 101-336).
(c) The commission shall also design and implement a program
whereby specialized or supplemental telephone communications
equipment may be provided to subscribers who are certified to be
disabled at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate. The
certification, including a statement of medical need for specialized
telecommunications equipment, shall be provided by a licensed
physician and surgeon acting within the scope of practice of his or
her license, or by a qualified state or federal agency as determined
by the commission. The commission shall, in this connection, study
the feasibility of, and implement, if determined to be feasible,
personal income criteria, in addition to the certification of
disability, for determining a subscriber's eligibility under this
subdivision.
(d) The commission shall establish a rate recovery mechanism
through a surcharge not to exceed one-half of 1 percent uniformly
applied to a subscriber's intrastate telephone service, other than
one-way radio paging service and universal telephone service, both
within a service area and between service areas, to allow providers
of the equipment and service specified in subdivisions (a), (b), and
(c), to recover costs as they are incurred under this section. The
surcharge shall be in effect until January 1, 2001
2006 . The commission shall require that the programs
implemented under this section be identified on subscribers' bills,
and shall establish a fund and require separate accounting for each
of the programs implemented under this section.
(e) The commission shall determine and specify those statewide
organizations representing the deaf or hearing impaired
which that shall receive a telecommunications
device pursuant to subdivision (a) or a dual-party relay system
pursuant to subdivision (b), or both, and in which offices the
equipment shall be installed in the case of an organization having
more than one office.
(f) The commission may direct any telephone corporation subject to
its jurisdiction to comply with its determinations and
specifications pursuant to this section.
(g) The commission shall annually review the surcharge level and
the balances in the funds established pursuant to subdivision (d).
Until January 1, 2001 2006 , the
commission shall be authorized to make, within the limits set by
subdivision (d), any necessary adjustments to the surcharge to ensure
that the programs supported thereby are adequately funded and that
the fund balances are not excessive. A fund balance which is
projected to exceed six months' worth of projected expenses at the
end of the fiscal year is excessive.
(h) The commission shall prepare and submit to the Legislature, on
or before December 31, 1988, and annually thereafter, a report on
the fiscal status of the programs established and funded pursuant to
this section and Sections 2881.1 and 2881.2. The report shall
include a statement of the surcharge level established pursuant to
subdivision (d) and revenues produced by the surcharge, an accounting
of program expenses, and an evaluation of options for controlling
those expenses and increasing program efficiency, including, but not
limited to, all of the following proposals:
(1) The establishment of a means test for persons to qualify for
program equipment or free or reduced charges for the use of
telecommunication services.
(2) If and to the extent not prohibited under Section 401 of the
federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public
Law 101-336), the imposition of limits or other restrictions on
maximum usage levels for the relay service, which shall include the
development of a program to provide basic communications requirements
to all relay users at discounted rates, including discounted toll
call rates, and, for usage in excess of those basic requirements, at
rates which recover the full costs of service.
(3) More efficient means for obtaining and distributing equipment
to qualified subscribers.
(4) The establishment of quality standards for increasing the
efficiency of the relay system.
(i) In order to continue to meet the access needs of individuals
with functional limitations of hearing, vision, movement,
manipulation, speech and interpretation of information, the
commission shall perform ongoing assessment of, and if appropriate,
expand the scope of the program to allow for additional access
capability consistent with evolving telecommunications technology.
SEC. 2. Section 2881.01 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
2881.01. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 2881, the
surcharge shall be in effect until January 1, 2001.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 2881, the
commission shall be authorized to make the prescribed adjustments
until January 1, 2001.
SEC. 3. Section 2881.2 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
2881.2. (a) In addition to the requirements of Section 2881, the
commission shall design and implement a program that shall provide
for publicly available telecommunications devices capable of
servicing the needs of the deaf or hearing impaired in existing
buildings, structures, facilities, and public accommodations of the
type specified in Section 4450 of the Government Code and Sections
19955.5 and 19956 of the Health and Safety Code, making available
reasonable access of all phases of public telephone service to
individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired. The commission shall
direct the appropriate committee under its control to determine and
specify locations within existing buildings, structures, facilities,
and public accommodations in need of a telecommunications device and
to contract for the procurement, installation, and maintenance of
these devices. In the letting of the contract, the commission shall
direct the committee to ensure consideration of for-profit and
nonprofit corporations, including nonprofit corporations with
demonstrated service to individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired
and whose boards of directors and staff are made up of a majority of
those individuals. The commission shall also direct the committee to
seek the cooperation of the owners, managers, and tenants of the
existing buildings, structures, facilities, and public accommodations
that have been determined to be in need of a telecommunications
device with regard to its installation and maintenance. The
commission shall phase in this program over a reasonable period of
time, beginning no later than January 1, 1998, giving priority to
those existing buildings, structures, facilities, and public
accommodations determined by the commission, with the advice and
counsel of statewide nonprofit consumer organizations for the deaf,
to be of most importance and usefulness to the deaf or hearing
impaired.
(b) The commission shall ensure that costs are recovered as they
are incurred under this section, including any costs incurred by the
owners, managers, or tenants of existing buildings, structures,
facilities, and public accommodations, and shall utilize for this
purpose the rate recovery mechanism established pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 2881. The commission shall also establish
a fund and require separate accounting for the program implemented
under this section and, in addition, shall require that the surcharge
utilized to fund the program not exceed two-hundredths of 1 percent,
that it be combined with the surcharge required by subdivision (d)
of Section 2881, and that it count toward the limits set by that
subdivision. This surcharge shall be in effect until January 1,
2001 2006 .
(c) "Existing buildings, structures, facilities, and public
accommodations," for the purposes of this section, means those
buildings, structures, facilities, and public accommodations or parts
thereof that were constructed or altered prior to January 26, 1993,
or are otherwise not required by Section 303 of the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336)
(42 U.S.C. , Sec. 12183) or any other section of
that act and its implementing regulations and guidelines, to have a
publicly available telecommunications device capable of serving the
needs of the deaf or hearing impaired.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to reinstate a telephone surcharge that is needed in
order to recover the costs for telecommunications devices capable of
serving the needs of the deaf and hearing impaired and
telecommunications equipment for the disabled, it is necessary for
this act to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.