BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2757
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 26, 2000
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Carole Migden, Chairwoman
AB 2757 (Utilities and Commerce) - As Amended: April 11, 2000
Policy Committee: Utilities and
Commerce Vote: 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to implement a
program to provide statewide toll-free access, using a single
toll-free number, to a telephonic reading system for
individuals with print-reading disabilities.
2)Limits expenditures for these systems to 20 percent of
authorized maximum revenues in the Deaf and Disabled
Telecommunications Program Administrative Committee Fund.
3)Authorizes any state or local government entity or nonprofit
organization doing business in the state to apply to the PUC
to establish and operate a telephonic reading system.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual special fund costs in excess of $1 million to provide
statewide toll-free access for qualified individuals.
2)Estimated start-up costs (special fund) of around $70,000 for
equipment and annual operating costs (special fund) of around
$60,000 for each operator of a system. The total number of
system operators is unknown, but annual costs for the six
existing systems would be over $300,000.
3)The PUC would incur special fund costs of about $100,000 to
develop protocols and implement the program.
COMMENTS
AB 2757
Page 2
1)Background . Persons who cannot read print due to a disability
often have to forgo timely access to newspapers, magazines,
and other periodicals. Telephonic reading systems, in which
the caller can hear the reading of various printed materials,
can be accessed by using a standard touch-tone telephone.
There are six telephonic reading systems in the state-in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego, and two systems in
Sacramento. Up to 24 users can access each center
simultaneously, but persons calling from outside a center's
calling area (generally a 12-mile radius) cannot utilize the
service without incurring long distance telephone charges.
2)Purpose . This bill would increase the availability to a
telephonic reading service for all qualified residents in the
state by providing statewide toll-free access to a single
system. Individuals eligible to receive the service would be
those who qualify pursuant to federal regulations for loans of
library materials tailored for blind and other physically
handicapped persons. This includes those certified as blind;
persons whose visual disability prevents them from reading
standard printed material; persons unable to use standard
printed material because of physical limitations; persons
certified as having a reading disability; and persons with a
reading disability from an organic dysfunction.
3)Funding . The program would be funded from revenues in the
Deaf and Disabled Telecommunication Program (DDTP) fund, which
was established to provide telecommunications devices to the
disabled. Revenues to the fund come from a surcharge
established by the PUC on intrastate telephone service which
has a statutory ceiling of 0.5 percent. The current surcharge
level is 0.19 percent, or less than one-half of the maximum
allowable charge.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)319-2081