BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 136|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 136
          Author:   Beall (D), et al.
          Amended:  9/2/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUNIC. COMM  :  8-0, 06/21/11
          AYES:  Padilla, Fuller, Berryhill, Corbett, De León, 
            DeSaulnier, Rubio, Simitian
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Pavley, Strickland, Wright

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 08/25/11
          AYES:  Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, 
            Price, Runner, Steinberg

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-1, 05/31/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Telecommunications:  universal service:  speech 
          disabilities

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill expands the California Public 
          Utilities Commission (PUC) Deaf and Disabled 
          Telecommunications Program (DDTP) to include assistance to 
          individuals with speech disabilities, by January 1, 2014.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 9/2/11 specify January 1, 2014, 
          as the deadline for the PUC to adopt the regulations 
          required by this bill.

                                                           CONTINUED





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           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law:

          1.Requires the PUC to design and implement a universal 
            service program to provide a telecommunications device or 
            dual-party relay system to enable persons who are deaf or 
            hearing impaired to use the telecommunications network at 
            no charge additional to the basic exchange rate.

          2.Requires the PUC to design and implement a program to 
            provide specialized or supplemental telephone 
            communications equipment to subscribers who are disabled 
            at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate.

          3.Requires the PUC to recover the costs of the deaf and 
            disabled universal service program through a customer 
            surcharge of not more than one-half of 1 percent of 
            charges for intrastate telephone service, effective until 
            January 1, 2014.

          4.Requires that persons eligible for these programs be 
            certified as deaf or hearing impaired by a licensed 
            physician and surgeon, audiologist, licensed hearing aid 
            dispenser, or physician assistant, or certified as 
            disabled with a visual or medical need for specialized 
            telecommunications equipment by a licensed optometrist, 
            physician and surgeon, physician assistant or a qualified 
            state or federal agency, as determined by the PUC.

          5.Authorizes the PUC to expand the deaf and disabled 
            program consistent with evolving telecommunications 
            technology in order to meet the access needs of 
            individuals with functional limitations on hearing, 
            vision, movement, manipulation and interpretation of 
            information. 

          6.Requires the PUC to submit an annual report to the 
            Legislature on the deaf and disabled program with an 
            evaluation of options for controlling program expenses, 
            including establishing a means test for qualifying for 
            the program.

          This bill:

          1.Requires the PUC to expand the deaf and disabled program 







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            to include assistance to individuals with speech 
            disabilities that impair access to and use of the 
            telephone network and ensure funding for 
            speech-generating devices, accessories, and mounting 
            systems and specialized telecommunications equipment, 
            including infrared telephones, speaker phones, and 
            telephone interface devices.

          2.Requires the PUC to evaluate options for controlling the 
            program costs of providing speech-generating devices, as 
            part of an existing report to the Legislature.

          3.Requires the PUC to ensure that eligibility for 
            speech-generating devices is limited to state residents 
            who are certified as speech impaired by a licensed 
            physician, licensed speech-language pathologist, or 
            qualified state or federal agency.

          4.Requires the PUC to provide appropriate speech-generating 
            equipment consistent with the recommendation of a 
            licensed speech-language pathologist and with the 
            economy, efficiency, and quality of equipment available 
            for purchase in the state.

          5.Requires the PUC to be the provider of last resort and 
            limit device costs to the Medi-Cal rate.

           Background

          Current Deaf and Disabled Program  .  The deaf and disabled 
          program is one of several universal service programs 
          designed to ensure that affordable telecommunications 
          service is ubiquitously available to all members of 
          society.  Under this program, the PUC provides deaf and 
          disabled Californians with a "telecommunications device" or 
          "specialized telecommunications equipment" and relay 
          services that enable communications via telephone.  Program 
          services and equipment are provided to eligible persons by 
          vendors under contract with the CPUC.  The CPUC also 
          conducts pilot programs with new technologies, including a 
          current pilot involving wireless phones for the hearing 
          impaired.

           Devices for Speech Disabilities  .   According to the 







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          author's office, devices currently provided through the 
          deaf and disabled program do not enable persons with severe 
          speech disabilities to utilize the telephone.  However, new 
          technologies have resulted in speech-generating devices 
          that enable telephone communication.  DynaVox, a major 
          provider of these devices and supporter of this bill, 
          estimates that statewide demand for these devices is about 
          1,000 to 1,250 per year.  Estimates of the cost per device 
          range from $7,000 to $11,000.

           Devices Covered by Insurance  .  Because speech-generating 
          devices enable communication generally, they are considered 
          durable medical equipment and may be covered by public and 
          private insurance.  DynaVox claims the devices are covered 
          by Medi-Cal, Medi-Care and most private insurance 
          companies.  Disability Rights California, on the other 
          hand, claims that this specialized equipment is 
          cost-prohibitive and not always covered by insurance or 
          Medi-Cal.  

           Request for PUC Pilot  .  In response to a request to conduct 
          a pilot on speech-generating devices, the CPUC determined 
          that these devices do not fit within the parameters of the 
          deaf and disabled program because they are primarily 
          medical equipment rather than telecommunications devices.  
          According to the CPUC, its research revealed that, while 
          all the speech generating devices it examined facilitated 
          speech communication, only a subset of those devices had a 
          telecommunications component, and none of them were 
          designed solely for use as a telecommunications device.  
          Moreover, the CPUC claims that speech-generating devices 
          are customized to each user, making competitive procurement 
          as required by state contracting procedures a complicated 
          and lengthy process. 
           
          Comments
           
          According to the author's office, this bill will help 
          ensure that no one is prevented from making or receiving a 
          telephone call if technology exists to make it possible.  
          The author claims that this bill is necessary because "the 
          CPUC has refused to make newly developed technology (e.g., 
          speech-generating devices) available to people with the 
          most severe communications disabilities."







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          FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions                2011-12     2012-13    
           2013-14   Fund
           Program oversight        $165      $330      $330 Special *

          Outside contracting for                 $130      
          $130Special *
             program delivery

          Providing devices to                              Potential 
          costs of $7,000 to                                     
          Special *
             disabled customers       $9,500 per year

          * Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program 
          Administrative Committee Fund.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  9/6/11)

          California ALS Advocacy Committee
          California Speech-Language-Hearing Association
          Disability Rights California
          Occupational Therapy Association of California
          The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy of California
          Unites States Society for Augmentative and Alternative 
          Communication 

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The California ALS Advocacy 
          Committee writes in support, "AB 136 expands the California 
          Telephone Access Program to include individuals with speech 
          disabilities, such as ALS, that impair the individual's 
          access to and use of the telephone.  The bill provides that 
          the PUC shall ensure that accessories and mounting systems 
          of speech generating devices are funded through the CTAP 
          ÝCalifornia Telephone Access Program] program."

          Disability Rights California writes in support, "Many 







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          people with speech disabilities need specialized equipment 
          to communicate.  Purchasing this equipment can be cost 
          prohibitive and is not always covered by insurance or 
          Medi-Cal.  Further, such equipment means individuals can 
          function independently in the community and will not have 
          to rely on others for assistance."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, 
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, 
            Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Hall, 
            Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, 
            Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, 
            Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, 
            Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, 
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES:  Halderman
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Charles Calderon, Gorell


          RM:nl  9/6/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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