BILL NUMBER: SB 210 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 14, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bowen
FEBRUARY 10, 2005
An act to amend Section 1442.5 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to county medical facilities. 2881 of
the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 210, as amended, Bowen. County medical facilities:
services reduction: notice Telecommunications:
telephone corporations: surcharge .
The existing federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a
program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of
telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while
implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state
mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with
certain universal service principles. Existing federal law requires
that a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment or customer
premises equipment ensure that the equipment is designed, developed,
and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with
disabilities, as defined, if readily achievable. Existing federal law
further requires that a provider of telecommunications services, as
defined, ensure that the service is accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations.
Existing law requires the commission to design and implement programs
under which telephone corporations provide access to the
telecommunications system for subscribers who are deaf, hearing
impaired, or disabled, including programs to provide specialized or
supplemental telephone communications equipment. The commission is
required, until January 1, 2006, to establish a rate recovery
mechanism through a surcharge, not to exceed 1/2 % on intrastate
service, to allow providers of the equipment and services to recover
their costs. Existing law authorizes the commission, until January 1,
2006, to adjust the surcharge upward or downward within the
specified 1/2% cap, to ensure that the programs supported thereby are
adequately funded and that the fund balances are not excessive.
This bill would extend, until January 1, 2010, the authority of
the commission to establish a rate recovery mechanism through a
surcharge and to adjust the surcharge upward or downward within the
specified 1/2% cap, to ensure that the programs supported thereby are
adequately funded and that the fund balances are not excessive.
Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors in each county to
establish and maintain a county hospital and prescribe rules for the
government and management thereof. Prior to closing, eliminating or
reducing the level of medical services provided by, or leasing,
selling, or transferring management of, a county facility, existing
law requires the board to provide public notice of public hearings to
be held by the board prior to its decision to proceed. Existing law
requires the notice to be posted not less than 14 days prior to the
public hearings.
This bill would increase the amount of time prior to the public
hearings that the notice must be posted from 14 days to 30 days.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1442.5 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
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 visual or medical need for
specialized telecommunications equipment, shall be provided by a
licensed optometrist or 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, 2006
2010 . 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 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, 2006 2010 , 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.
(j) The commission shall structure the programs required by this
section so that any charge imposed to promote the goals of universal
service reasonably equals the value of the benefits of universal
service to contributing entities and their subscribers.
1442.5. (a) Prior to (1) closing, (2) eliminating or reducing the
level of medical services provided by, or (3) the leasing, selling,
or transfer of management of, a county facility, the board shall
provide public notice, including notice posted at the entrance to all
county health care facilities, of public hearings to be held by the
board prior to its decision to proceed. The notice shall be posted
not less than 30 days prior to the public hearings. The notice shall
contain a list of the proposed reductions or changes, by facility
and service. The notice shall include the amount and type of each
proposed change, the expected savings, and the number of persons
affected.
(b) Notwithstanding the board's closing of, the elimination of or
reduction in the level of services provided by, or the leasing,
selling, or transfer of management of, a county facility subsequent
to January 1, 1975, the county shall fulfill its duty to provide care
to all indigent people, either directly through county facilities or
indirectly through alternative means.
(1) Where the county duty is fulfilled by a contractual
arrangement with a private facility or individual, the facility or
individual shall assume the county's full obligation to provide care
to those who cannot afford it, and make their services available to
Medi-Cal and Medicare recipients.
(2) Where the county duty is fulfilled by alternative means, the
facility or individual providing services shall be in compliance with
Sections 441.18 and 1277.
(3) The board shall designate an agency to provide a 24-hour
information service that can give eligible people immediate
information on the available services and access to them, and an
agency to receive and respond to complaints from people eligible for
services under this chapter. The designated agency may be the agency
that operates the facility. This subdivision applies only in
instances in which there is (1) a closing of, (2) an elimination or
reduction in the level of services provided by, or (3) the leasing,
selling, or transfer of, a county facility.
(4) The board shall arrange for all facilities or individuals
contracting to provide services to indigent people to be listed in
the local telephone directory under county listings, and shall
specify therein that the facilities or individuals fulfill the
obligations of county facilities.
(5) Section 25371 of the Government Code does not relieve the
county of the obligation to comply with this section.