100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
SB1564

 

Introduced 2/9/2017, by Sen. Bill Cunningham

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
50 ILCS 750/20

    Amends the Emergency Telephone System Act. Provides that a monthly surcharge of $0.87 charged by telecommunications carriers shall not apply to local, municipal, or State police or fire departments who use cell phones owned by that department for communication related to the response of emergencies.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Emergency Telephone System Act is amended by
5changing Section 20 as follows:
 
6    (50 ILCS 750/20)
7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)
8    Sec. 20. Statewide surcharge.
9    (a) On and after January 1, 2016, and except with respect
10to those customers who are subject to surcharges as provided in
11Sections 15.3 and 15.3a of this Act, a monthly surcharge shall
12be imposed on all customers of telecommunications carriers and
13wireless carriers as follows:
14        (1) Each telecommunications carrier shall impose a
15    monthly surcharge of $0.87 per network connection;
16    provided, however, the monthly surcharge shall not apply to
17    a network connection provided for use with pay telephone
18    services. Where multiple voice grade communications
19    channels are connected between the subscriber's premises
20    and a public switched network through private branch
21    exchange (PBX) or centrex type service there shall be
22    imposed 5 such surcharges per network connection for both
23    regular service and advanced service provisioned trunk

 

 

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1    lines. The monthly surcharge shall not apply local,
2    municipal, or State police or fire departments who use cell
3    phones owned by that department for communication related
4    to the response of emergencies.
5        (2) Each wireless carrier shall impose and collect a
6    monthly surcharge of $0.87 per CMRS connection that either
7    has a telephone number within an area code assigned to
8    Illinois by the North American Numbering Plan
9    Administrator or has a billing address in this State.
10    (b) State and local taxes shall not apply to the surcharges
11imposed under this Section.
12    (c) The surcharges imposed by this Section shall be stated
13as a separately stated item on subscriber bills.
14    (d) The telecommunications carrier collecting the
15surcharge shall also be entitled to deduct 3% of the gross
16amount of surcharge collected to reimburse the
17telecommunications carrier for the expense of accounting and
18collecting the surcharge. On and after July 1, 2022, the
19wireless carrier collecting a surcharge under this Section
20shall be entitled to deduct up to 3% of the gross amount of the
21surcharge collected to reimburse the wireless carrier for the
22expense of accounting and collecting the surcharge.
23    (e) Surcharges imposed under this Section shall be
24collected by the carriers and, within 30 days of collection,
25remitted, either by check or electronic funds transfer, to the
26Department for deposit into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. Carriers

 

 

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1are not required to remit surcharge moneys that are billed to
2subscribers but not yet collected.
3    The first remittance by wireless carriers shall include the
4number of subscribers by zip code, and the 9-digit zip code if
5currently being used or later implemented by the carrier, that
6shall be the means by which the Department shall determine
7distributions from the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. This information
8shall be updated at least once each year. Any carrier that
9fails to provide the zip code information required under this
10subsection (e) shall be subject to the penalty set forth in
11subsection (g) of this Section.
12    (f) If, within 5 business days it is due under subsection
13(e) of this Section, a carrier does not remit the surcharge or
14any portion thereof required under this Section, then the
15surcharge or portion thereof shall be deemed delinquent until
16paid in full, and the Department may impose a penalty against
17the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:
18        (1) $25 for each month or portion of a month from the
19    time an amount becomes delinquent until the amount is paid
20    in full; or
21        (2) an amount equal to the product of 1% and the sum of
22    all delinquent amounts for each month or portion of a month
23    that the delinquent amounts remain unpaid.
24    A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (f)
25for a portion of a month during which the carrier pays the
26delinquent amount in full shall be prorated for each day of

 

 

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1that month that the delinquent amount was paid in full. Any
2penalty imposed under this subsection (f) is in addition to the
3amount of the delinquency and is in addition to any other
4penalty imposed under this Section.
5    (g) If, within 5 business days after it is due, a wireless
6carrier does not provide the number of subscribers by zip code
7as required under subsection (e) of this Section, then the
8report is deemed delinquent and the Department may impose a
9penalty against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater
10of:
11        (1) $25 for each month or portion of a month that the
12    report is delinquent; or
13        (2) an amount equal to the product of $0.01 and the
14    number of subscribers served by the carrier.
15    A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (g)
16for a portion of a month during which the carrier provides the
17number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection
18(e) of this Section shall be prorated for each day of that
19month during which the carrier had not provided the number of
20subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of
21this Section. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (g) is
22in addition to any other penalty imposed under this Section.
23    (h) A penalty imposed and collected in accordance with
24subsection (f) or (g) of this Section shall be deposited into
25the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution according to Section
2630 of this Act.

 

 

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1    (i) The Department may enforce the collection of any
2delinquent amount and any penalty due and unpaid under this
3Section by legal action or in any other manner by which the
4collection of debts due the State of Illinois may be enforced
5under the laws of this State. The Department may excuse the
6payment of any penalty imposed under this Section if the
7Administrator determines that the enforcement of this penalty
8is unjust.
9    (j) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
10nothing shall impair the right of wireless carriers to recover
11compliance costs for all emergency communications services
12that are not reimbursed out of the Wireless Carrier
13Reimbursement Fund directly from their wireless subscribers by
14line-item charges on the wireless subscriber's bill. Those
15compliance costs include all costs incurred by wireless
16carriers in complying with local, State, and federal regulatory
17or legislative mandates that require the transmission and
18receipt of emergency communications to and from the general
19public, including, but not limited to, E9-1-1.
20(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16.)