Public Act 095-0063
 
HB0463 Enrolled LRB095 03749 MJR 23778 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act is
amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 17, 35, and 70 as follows:
 
    (50 ILCS 751/5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)
    Sec. 5. Purpose. The General Assembly finds and declares it
is in the public interest to promote the use of wireless 9-1-1
and wireless enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) service in order to save
lives and protect the property of the citizens of the State of
Illinois.
    Wireless carriers are required by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to provide E9-1-1 service in
the form of automatic location identification and automatic
number identification pursuant to policies set forth by the
FCC.
    Public safety agencies and wireless carriers are
encouraged to work together to provide emergency access to
wireless 9-1-1 and wireless E9-1-1 service. Public safety
agencies and wireless carriers operating wireless 9-1-1 and
wireless E9-1-1 systems require adequate funding to recover the
costs of designing, purchasing, installing, testing, and
operating enhanced facilities, systems, and services necessary
to comply with the wireless E9-1-1 requirements mandated by the
Federal Communications Commission and to maximize the
availability of wireless E9-1-1 services throughout the State
of Illinois.
    The revenues generated by the wireless carrier surcharge
enacted by this Act are required to fund the efforts of the
wireless carriers, emergency telephone system boards,
qualified governmental entities, and the Department of State
Police to improve the public health, safety, and welfare and to
serve a public purpose by providing emergency telephone
assistance through wireless communications.
    It is the intent of the General Assembly to:
        (1) establish and implement a cohesive statewide
    emergency telephone number that will provide wireless
    telephone users with rapid direct access to public safety
    agencies by dialing the telephone number 9-1-1;
        (2) encourage wireless carriers and public safety
    agencies to provide E9-1-1 services that will assist public
    safety agencies in determining the caller's approximate
    location and wireless telephone number;
        (3) grant authority to public safety agencies not
    already in possession of the authority to finance the cost
    of installing and operating wireless 9-1-1 systems and
    reimbursing wireless carriers for costs incurred to
    provide wireless E9-1-1 services; and
        (4) provide for a reasonable fee on wireless telephone
    service subscribers to accomplish these purposes and
    provide for the enforcement and collection of such fees.
(Source: P.A. 91-660, eff. 12-22-99.)
 
    (50 ILCS 751/10)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)
    Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Active prepaid wireless telephone" means a prepaid
wireless telephone that has been used or activated by the
customer during the month to complete a telephone call for
which the customer's card or account was decremented.
    "Emergency telephone system board" means a board appointed
by the corporate authorities of any county or municipality that
provides for the management and operation of a 9-1-1 system
within the scope of the duties and powers prescribed by the
Emergency Telephone System Act.
    "Master street address guide" means the computerized
geographical database that consists of all street and address
data within a 9-1-1 system.
    "Mobile telephone number" or "MTN" shall mean the telephone
number assigned to a wireless telephone at the time of initial
activation.
    "Prepaid wireless telephone service" means wireless
telephone service which is activated by payment in advance of a
finite dollar amount or for a finite set of minutes and which,
unless an additional finite dollar amount or finite set of
minutes is paid in advance, terminates either (i) upon use by a
customer and delivery by the wireless carrier of an agreed-upon
amount of service corresponding to the total dollar amount paid
in advance, or within a certain period of time following
initial purchase or activation.
    "Public safety agency" means a functional division of a
public agency that provides fire fighting, police, medical, or
other emergency services. For the purpose of providing wireless
service to users of 9-1-1 emergency services, as expressly
provided for in this Act, the Department of State Police may be
considered a public safety agency.
    "Qualified governmental entity" means a unit of local
government authorized to provide 9-1-1 services pursuant to the
Emergency Telephone System Act where no emergency telephone
system board exists.
    "Remit period" means the billing period, one month in
duration, for which a wireless carrier, other than a prepaid
wireless carrier that provides zip code information based upon
the addresses associated with its customers' points of
purchase, customers' billing addresses, or locations
associated with MTNs, as described in subsection (a) of Section
17, remits a surcharge and provides subscriber information by
zip code to the Illinois Commerce Commission, in accordance
with Section 17 of this Act.
    "Statewide wireless emergency 9-1-1 system" means all
areas of the State where an emergency telephone system board
or, in the absence of an emergency telephone system board, a
qualified governmental entity has not declared its intention
for one or more of its public safety answering points to serve
as a primary wireless 9-1-1 public safety answering point for
its jurisdiction. The operator of the statewide wireless
emergency 9-1-1 system shall be the Department of State Police.
    "Sufficient positive balance" means a dollar amount
greater than or equal to the monthly wireless 9-1-1 surcharge
amount.
    "Wireless carrier" means a provider of two-way cellular,
broadband PCS, geographic area 800 MHZ and 900 MHZ Commercial
Mobile Radio Service (CMRS), Wireless Communications Service
(WCS), or other Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS), as
defined by the Federal Communications Commission, offering
radio communications that may provide fixed, mobile, radio
location, or satellite communication services to individuals
or businesses within its assigned spectrum block and
geographical area or that offers real-time, two-way voice
service that is interconnected with the public switched
network, including a reseller of such service.
    "Wireless enhanced 9-1-1" means the ability to relay the
telephone number of the originator of a 9-1-1 call and location
information from any mobile handset or text telephone device
accessing the wireless system to the designated wireless public
safety answering point as set forth in the order of the Federal
Communications Commission, FCC Docket No. 94-102, adopted June
12, 1996, with an effective date of October 1, 1996, and any
subsequent amendment thereto.
    "Wireless public safety answering point" means the
functional division of an emergency telephone system board,
qualified governmental entity, or the Department of State
Police accepting wireless 9-1-1 calls.
    "Wireless subscriber" means an individual or entity to whom
a wireless service account or number has been assigned by a
wireless carrier.
    "Wireless telephone service" includes prepaid wireless
telephone service and means all "commercial mobile service", as
that term is defined in 47 CFR 20.3, including all personal
communications services, wireless radio telephone services,
geographic area specialized and enhanced specialized mobile
radio services, and incumbent wide area specialized mobile
radio licensees that offer real time, two-way service that is
interconnected with the public switched telephone network.
(Source: P.A. 93-507, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
    (50 ILCS 751/17)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)
    Sec. 17. Wireless carrier surcharge.
    (a) Except as provided in Section 45, each wireless carrier
shall impose a monthly wireless carrier surcharge per CMRS
connection that either has a telephone number within an area
code assigned to Illinois by the North American Numbering Plan
Administrator or has a billing address in this State. In the
case of prepaid wireless telephone service, this surcharge
shall be remitted based upon the address associated with the
point of purchase, the customer billing address, or the
location associated with the MTN for each active prepaid
wireless telephone that has a sufficient positive balance as of
the last day of each month, if that information is available.
No wireless carrier shall impose the surcharge authorized by
this Section upon any subscriber who is subject to the
surcharge imposed by a unit of local government pursuant to
Section 45. The wireless carrier that provides wireless service
to the subscriber shall collect the surcharge set by the
Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board from the subscriber. For mobile
telecommunications services provided on and after August 1,
2002, any surcharge imposed under this Act shall be imposed
based upon the municipality or county that encompasses the
customer's place of primary use as defined in the Mobile
Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act. The surcharge
shall be stated as a separate item on the subscriber's monthly
bill. The wireless carrier shall begin collecting the surcharge
on bills issued within 90 days after the Wireless Enhanced
9-1-1 Board sets the monthly wireless surcharge. State and
local taxes shall not apply to the wireless carrier surcharge.
    (b) Except as provided in Section 45, a wireless carrier
shall, within 45 days of collection, remit, either by check or
by electronic funds transfer, to the State Treasurer the amount
of the wireless carrier surcharge collected from each
subscriber. Of the amounts remitted under this subsection, the
State Treasurer shall deposit one-third into the Wireless
Carrier Reimbursement Fund and two-thirds into the Wireless
Service Emergency Fund.
    (c) The first such remittance by wireless carriers shall
include the number of customers by zip code, and the 9-digit
zip code if currently being used or later implemented by the
carrier, that shall be the means by which the Illinois Commerce
Commission shall determine distributions from the Wireless
Service Emergency Fund. This information shall be updated no
less often than every year. Wireless carriers are not required
to remit surcharge moneys that are billed to subscribers but
not yet collected. Any carrier that fails to provide the zip
code information required under this subsection (c) or any
prepaid wireless carrier that fails to provide zip code
information based upon the addresses associated with its
customers' points of purchase, customers' billing addresses,
or locations associated with MTNs, as described in subsection
(a) of this Section, shall be subject to the penalty set forth
in subsection (f) of this Section.
    (d) Within 90 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, each wireless
carrier must implement a mechanism for the collection of the
surcharge imposed under subsection (a) of this Section from its
subscribers. If a wireless carrier does not implement a
mechanism for the collection of the surcharge from its
subscribers in accordance with this subsection (d), then the
carrier is required to remit the surcharge for all subscribers
until the carrier is deemed to be in compliance with this
subsection (d) by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
    (e) If before midnight on the last day of the third
calendar month after the closing date of the remit period a
wireless carrier does not remit the surcharge or any portion
thereof required under this Section, then the surcharge or
portion thereof shall be deemed delinquent until paid in full,
and the Illinois Commerce Commission may impose a penalty
against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:
        (1) $25 for each month or portion of a month from the
    time an amount becomes delinquent until the amount is paid
    in full; or
        (2) an amount equal to the product of 1% and the sum of
    all delinquent amounts for each month or portion of a month
    that the delinquent amounts remain unpaid.
    A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (e)
for a portion of a month during which the carrier provides the
number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection
(c) of this Section shall be prorated for each day of that
month during which the carrier had not provided the number of
subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (c) of
this Section. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (e) is
in addition to the amount of the delinquency and is in addition
to any other penalty imposed under this Section.
    (f) If, before midnight on the last day of the third
calendar month after the closing date of the remit period, a
wireless carrier does not provide the number of subscribers by
zip code as required under subsection (c) of this Section, then
the report is deemed delinquent and the Illinois Commerce
Commission may impose a penalty against the carrier in an
amount equal to the greater of:
        (1) $25 for each month or portion of a month that the
    report is delinquent; or
        (2) an amount equal to the product of 1/2¢ and the
    number of subscribers served by the wireless carrier.
    A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (f)
for a portion of a month during which the carrier pays the
delinquent amount in full shall be prorated for each day of
that month that the delinquent amount was paid in full. Any
penalty imposed under this subsection (f) is in addition to any
other penalty imposed under this Section.
    (g) The Illinois Commerce Commission may enforce the
collection of any delinquent amount and any penalty due and
unpaid under this Section by legal action or in any other
manner by which the collection of debts due the State of
Illinois may be enforced under the laws of this State. The
Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission, or his
or her designee, may excuse the payment of any penalty imposed
under this Section if the Executive Director, or his or her
designee, determines that the enforcement of this penalty is
unjust.
(Source: P.A. 92-526, eff. 7-1-02; 93-507, eff. 1-1-04; 93-839,
eff. 7-30-04.)
 
    (50 ILCS 751/35)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)
    Sec. 35. Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund;
reimbursement.
    (a) To recover costs from the Wireless Carrier
Reimbursement Fund, the wireless carrier shall submit sworn
invoices to the Illinois Commerce Commission. In no event may
any invoice for payment be approved for (i) costs that are not
related to compliance with the requirements established by the
wireless enhanced 9-1-1 mandates of the Federal Communications
Commission, (ii) costs with respect to any wireless enhanced
9-1-1 service that is not operable at the time the invoice is
submitted, or (iii) costs in excess of the sum of (A) the
carrier's balance, as determined under subsection (e) of this
Section, plus (B) 100% of the surcharge of any wireless carrier
exceeding 100% of the wireless emergency services charges
remitted to the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund by the
wireless carrier under Section 17(b) since the last annual
review of the balance in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement
Fund under subsection (e) of this Section, less reimbursements
paid to the carrier out of the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement
Fund since the last annual review of the balance under
subsection (e) of this Section, unless the wireless carrier
received prior approval for the expenditures from the Illinois
Commerce Commission.
    (b) If in any month the total amount of invoices submitted
to the Illinois Commerce Commission and approved for payment
exceeds the amount available in the Wireless Carrier
Reimbursement Fund, wireless carriers that have invoices
approved for payment shall receive a pro-rata share of the
amount available in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund
based on the relative amount of their approved invoices
available that month, and the balance of the payments shall be
carried into the following months until all of the approved
payments are made.
    (c) A wireless carrier may not receive payment from the
Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund for its costs of providing
wireless enhanced 9-1-1 services in an area when a unit of
local government or emergency telephone system board provides
wireless 9-1-1 services in that area and was imposing and
collecting a wireless carrier surcharge prior to July 1, 1998.
    (d) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall maintain
detailed records of all receipts and disbursements and shall
provide an annual accounting of all receipts and disbursements
to the Auditor General.
    (e) The Illinois Commerce Commission must annually review
the balance in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund as of
June 30 of each year and shall direct the Comptroller to
transfer into the Wireless Services Emergency Fund for
distribution in accordance with Section 25 of this Act any
amount in excess of the amount of deposits into the Fund for
the 24 months prior to June 30 less:
        (1) the amount of paid and payables received by June 30
    for the 24 months prior to June 30 as determined eligible
    under subsection (a) of this Section;
        (2) the administrative costs associated with the Fund
    for the 24 months prior to June 30; and
        (3) the prorated portion of any other adjustments made
    to the Fund in the 24 months prior to June 30.
    After making the calculation required under this
subsection (e), each carrier's available balance for purposes
of reimbursements must be adjusted using the same calculation.
    (f) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to
govern the reimbursement process.
(Source: P.A. 93-507, eff. 1-1-04; 93-839, eff. 7-30-04.)
 
    (50 ILCS 751/70)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)
    Sec. 70. Repealer. This Act is repealed on April 1, 2013
2008.
(Source: P.A. 93-507, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.