BILL NUMBER: AB 1553	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  300
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 23, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 30, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fuentes

                        MARCH 10, 2009

   An act to amend Section 2881 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to telecommunications.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1553, Fuentes. Telecommunications: universal service: deaf and
disabled telecommunications programs.
   Existing law, the 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. Under existing law, the Public
Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities,
including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the
commission to oversee administration of the state's universal service
programs, including the deaf and disabled programs. The existing
deaf and disabled universal service program, among other things,
requires the commission to 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.
   Existing law requires the commission, with certain exceptions,
until January 1, 2010, to establish a rate recovery mechanism through
a surcharge not to exceed 0.5% applied to a subscriber's intrastate
telephone service, to allow providers of equipment and service
pursuant to the state's deaf and disabled universal service programs
to recover costs as they are incurred. Existing law requires the
commission to annually review the surcharge level and the balances in
the funds established to fund the state's deaf and disabled
universal service programs and, until January 1, 2010, authorize the
commission to make any necessary adjustments to the surcharge to
ensure that the deaf and disabled universal service programs are
adequately funded and the fund balances are not excessive.
   This bill would instead make January 1, 2014, the termination date
for the requirements placed on the commission relative to funding of
the deaf and disabled universal service programs.
   Existing law makes any public utility and any corporation other
than a public utility that fails to comply with any part of any
order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
commission guilty of a crime.
   Because the program that is extended under the provisions of this
bill require a decision or order of the commission to implement, and
violation of the order or decision would be a crime, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by extending the operation of a
crime.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


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 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, 2014. 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, 2014, 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 of each year, 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.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.