BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                          Senator Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                                           1068 (Escutia and Bowen)
          
          Hearing Date:  4/25/05          Amended: 3/30/05
          Consultant:  Lisa Matocq        Policy Vote: E, U & C 7-3
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 1068 requires the Public Utilities Commission  
          (PUC) to, by July 1, 2006, implement and enforce a  
          Telecommunications Bill of Rights (TBOR), consumer protection  
          rules for (1) telecommunications service, and (2) charges for  
          noncommunications services on telephone corporation bills, as  
          specified.  It also expresses legislative intent that the  
          consumer protections be at least as protective as those  
          established by the PUC in its May 2004 decision.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions               2005-06     2006-07    2007-08    Fund  
          PUC                          Unknown costs, potentially $50+ to  
          several           Special*
                                       hundred thousand dollars annually.   
          Costs 
                                       should be offset by fee revenues.    
                        
          *Public Utilities' Reimbursement Account (PURA)
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: 

          The TBOR includes, for example, the right to receive clear and  
          complete information about rates, terms, and conditions for  
          service, and the right to personal privacy.  It requires  
          telephone corporations to, among other things, publish, and keep  
          current on an Internet Web site, the rates, terms, and  
          conditions it offers, and to credit payments effective the  
          business day payments are received.   

          In May 2004, the PUC approved telephone consumer protections  
          rules that apply to all telephone companies, including wireless  
          providers.  Apparently, most of the rules had been implemented  
          by late 2004. However, some telephone companies requested time  










          extensions to implement certain rules.  In January 2005, the PUC  
          stayed their May 2004 decision, pending further review. 

          Staff notes that a March 2005 Federal Communications Commission  
          (FCC) order bars states from requiring or prohibiting discretely  
          identified charges on a wireless bill, and proposes several  
          rules on which the FCC seeks comment.  It is unknown at this  
          time whether the states will be preempted more broadly. 

          PUC staff estimate unknown costs, but probably in the range of  
          $50,000+ to several hundred thousand dollars annually.   
          Increased costs depend on the extent to which this bill (1)  
          imposes additional duties that the PUC would not have otherwise  
          adopted, and (2) drives up enforcement costs by applying  
          protections to all customers, rather than only residential and  
          small commercial customers (as was the case with the PUC's 2004  
          decision).  PURA revenues are derived from an annual fee imposed  
          on utilities.  Therefore, any increased costs to the PUC should  
          be offset by fee revenues.