BILL NUMBER: AB 841 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Buchanan
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Section 285 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to telecommunications , and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 841, as amended, Buchanan. Telecommunications: universal
service: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Existing
(1) 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.
Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to
supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including
telephone corporations.
Existing law establishes six funds in the State Treasury through
which the state's universal service programs are funded. Existing law
requires that moneys in the funds may only be expended for specified
purposes and upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon
supplemental appropriation.
This bill would authorize the commission to require interconnected
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers to collect and
remit surcharges on their California intrastate revenues in support
of the universal service funds. By authorizing extension of
universal service surcharges to VoIP subscribers the bill would make
a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a
higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII
A of the California Constitution, and
thus would require for passage the approval of 2/3
of the membership of each house of the
Legislature.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 285 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
285. (a) As used in this section, "interconnected Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) service" has the same meaning as in Section
9.3 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) This section does not confer jurisdiction to the commission,
or to any other entity, to regulate interconnected VoIP service or to
regulate providers of interconnected VoIP service, except for the
sole purpose to impose surcharges pursuant to this section. The sole
purpose of this section is to ensure that end-use customers of
interconnected VoIP service providers contribute to the funds
enumerated in this section, and therefore, this section does not
confer other authority or indicate legislative intent with respect to
any other purpose.
(c) The commission may require interconnected VoIP service
providers to collect and remit surcharges on their California
intrastate revenues in support of the following public purpose
program funds:
(1) California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund
under Section 275.
(2) California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund
under Section 276.
(3) Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Trust Administrative
Committee Fund under Section 277.
(4) Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program Administrative
Committee Fund under Section 278.
(5) California Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee Fund
under Section 280.
(6) California Advanced Services Fund under Section 281.
(d) The authority to impose a surcharge pursuant to this section
applies only to a surcharge imposed on end-use customers for
interconnected VoIP service provided to an end-use customer's place
of primary use that is located within California. As used in this
subdivision, "place of primary use" means the street address where
the end-use customer's use of interconnected VoIP service primarily
occurs, or a reasonable proxy as determined by the interconnected
VoIP service provider, such as the customer's registered location for
911 purposes.
(e) (1) For the purposes of determining what revenues are subject
to a surcharge imposed pursuant to this section, an interconnected
VoIP service provider may use any of the following methodologies to
identify intrastate revenues:
(A) The inverse of the interstate safe harbor percentage
established by the Federal Communications Commission for
interconnected VoIP service for federal universal service
contribution purposes, as these percentages may be revised from time
to time.
(B) A traffic study specific to the interconnected VoIP service
provider allocating revenues between the federal and state
jurisdictions.
(C) Another means of accurately apportioning interconnected VoIP
service between federal and state jurisdictions.
(2) The methodology chosen pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
consistent with the revenue allocation methodology the provider uses
to determine its federal universal service contribution obligations.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that a traffic study
described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) is excluded from
public inspection pursuant to Public Utilities Commission General
Order 66-C, because the disclosure of these studies would place the
provider at an unfair business disadvantage.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure the Public Utilities Commission has the
necessary statutory direction to fund the state's universal service
programs at the earliest possible time, it is necessary for this act
to take effect immediately.