BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 219
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 4, 2001

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

             AB 219 (Utilities and Commerce Committee) - As Introduced:   
                                  February 9, 2001 

          Policy Committee:                              Utilities and  
          Commerce     Vote:                            15-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends, until January 2006, a surcharge on intrastate  
          telephone service to recover costs for the Deaf and Disabled  
          Telecommunications Program (DDTP), which provides  
          telecommunications devices capable of serving the needs of the  
          deaf and hearing impaired and telecommunications equipment for  
          the disabled.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Continuation of DDTP surcharge on telephone bills, which totals  
          about $45 million.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  The statutory requirement for the DDTP surcharge  
            expired on January 1, 2001.  This urgency measure extends the  
            surcharge until January 1, 2006.  Last year, the Legislature  
            passed AB 2757 (Utilities Committee), which in part extended  
            the surcharge until January 2005.  The governor vetoed that  
            bill for reasons unrelated to the surcharge extension.  The  
            PUC indicates that funds collected from the surcharge will be  
            depleted by mid-2001.  

           2)Background  .  The DDTP provides that certified  
            telecommunications customers who are hearing impaired or deaf  
            have access to the telecommunications network through a  
            dual-party relay system using a third party intervention to  
            connect individuals or offices of organizations representing  
            these groups with persons of normal hearing by way of  








                                                                  AB 219
                                                                  Page  2

            intercommunications devices.  The DDTP also provides, through  
            a program designed by the PUC,  supplemental telephone  
            communications equipment for subscribers certified to be  
            disabled to accommodate access to the telecommunications  
            network.  The PUC established a surcharge, which by statute  
            may not exceed one half of one percent, applied to intrastate  
            telephone service to fund the specified programs.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)319-2081