Full Text of HB3976 98th General Assembly
HB3976ham001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Brandon W. Phelps Filed: 11/6/2014
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3976
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3976 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 13-703 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/13-703) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-703)
| 7 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2015)
| 8 | | Sec. 13-703.
(a) The Commission shall design and implement | 9 | | a program
whereby each telecommunications carrier providing | 10 | | local exchange service
shall provide a telecommunications | 11 | | device capable of servicing the needs of
those persons with a | 12 | | hearing or speech disability together with a
single party line, | 13 | | at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to
any | 14 | | subscriber who is certified as having a hearing or speech | 15 | | disability by a
licensed physician, speech-language | 16 | | pathologist, audiologist or a qualified
State agency and to any |
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| 1 | | subscriber which is an organization serving the needs
of those | 2 | | persons with a hearing or speech disability as determined and
| 3 | | specified by the Commission pursuant to subsection (d).
| 4 | | (b) The Commission shall design and implement a program, | 5 | | whereby each
telecommunications carrier providing local | 6 | | exchange service shall provide a
telecommunications relay | 7 | | system, using third party intervention to connect
those persons | 8 | | having a hearing or speech disability with persons of normal
| 9 | | hearing by way of intercommunications devices and the telephone | 10 | | system, making
available reasonable access to all phases of | 11 | | public telephone service to
persons who have a hearing or | 12 | | speech disability. In order to design a
telecommunications | 13 | | relay system which will meet the requirements of those
persons | 14 | | with a hearing or speech disability available at a reasonable | 15 | | cost, the
Commission shall initiate an investigation and | 16 | | conduct public hearings to
determine the most cost-effective | 17 | | method of providing telecommunications relay
service to those | 18 | | persons who have a hearing or speech disability when using
| 19 | | telecommunications devices and therein solicit the advice, | 20 | | counsel, and
physical assistance of Statewide nonprofit | 21 | | consumer organizations that serve
persons with hearing or | 22 | | speech disabilities in such hearings and during the
development | 23 | | and implementation of the system. The Commission shall phase
in | 24 | | this program, on a geographical basis, as soon as is | 25 | | practicable, but
no later than June 30, 1990.
| 26 | | (c) The Commission shall establish a competitively neutral |
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| 1 | | rate recovery mechanism that establishes ,
authorizing charges | 2 | | in an amount to be determined by the Commission
for each line | 3 | | of a subscriber to allow telecommunications carriers
providing | 4 | | local exchange service to recover costs as they are incurred
| 5 | | under this Section.
| 6 | | (d) The Commission shall determine and specify those | 7 | | organizations serving
the needs of those persons having a | 8 | | hearing or speech disability that shall
receive a | 9 | | telecommunications device and in which offices the equipment | 10 | | shall be
installed in the case of an organization having more | 11 | | than one office. For the
purposes of this Section, | 12 | | "organizations serving the needs of those persons
with hearing | 13 | | or speech disabilities" means centers for independent living as
| 14 | | described in Section 12a of the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation | 15 | | Act and
not-for-profit organizations whose primary purpose is | 16 | | serving the needs of
those persons with hearing or speech | 17 | | disabilities. The Commission shall direct
the | 18 | | telecommunications carriers subject to its jurisdiction and | 19 | | this
Section to comply with its determinations and | 20 | | specifications in this regard.
| 21 | | (e) As used in this Section: | 22 | | "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service" means a | 23 | | wireless telecommunications service that must be paid for in | 24 | | advance and is sold in predetermined units or dollars of which | 25 | | the amount declines with use in a known amount. | 26 | | "Retail transaction" has the meaning set forth in Section |
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| 1 | | 10 of the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act. | 2 | | "Telecommunications As used in this Section, the phrase | 3 | | "telecommunications carrier
providing local exchange service" | 4 | | includes, without otherwise limiting the
meaning of the term, | 5 | | telecommunications carriers which are purely mutual
concerns, | 6 | | having no rates or charges for services, but paying the | 7 | | operating
expenses by assessment upon the members of such a | 8 | | company and no other
person.
| 9 | | "Wireless telecommunications service" means commercial | 10 | | mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 332(d). | 11 | | (f) Interconnected VoIP service providers , sellers of | 12 | | prepaid wireless telecommunications service, and providers of | 13 | | other wireless telecommunications services in Illinois shall | 14 | | collect and remit assessments determined by the Commission in | 15 | | accordance with this Section in a competitively neutral manner | 16 | | in the same manner as a telecommunications carrier providing | 17 | | local exchange service ; provided, however, that the assessment | 18 | | imposed on consumers of prepaid wireless telecommunications | 19 | | service shall be imposed per retail transaction . | 20 | | Interconnected VoIP services shall not be considered an | 21 | | intrastate telecommunications service for the purposes of this | 22 | | Section in a manner inconsistent with federal law or Federal | 23 | | Communications Commission regulation. | 24 | | (g) The provisions of this Section are severable under | 25 | | Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. | 26 | | (Source: P.A. 96-927, eff. 6-15-10 .)
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| 1 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 2 | | 2015.".
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