Rep. Brandon W. Phelps

Filed: 11/6/2014

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB3976ham001LRB098 15536 RPS 62116 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3976

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3976 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
5Section 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7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2015)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
9a program whereby each telecommunications carrier providing
10local exchange service shall provide a telecommunications
11device capable of servicing the needs of those persons with a
12hearing or speech disability together with a single party line,
13at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any
14subscriber who is certified as having a hearing or speech
15disability by a licensed physician, speech-language
16pathologist, audiologist or a qualified State agency and to any

 

 

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1subscriber which is an organization serving the needs of those
2persons with a hearing or speech disability as determined and
3specified by the Commission pursuant to subsection (d).
4    (b) The Commission shall design and implement a program,
5whereby each telecommunications carrier providing local
6exchange service shall provide a telecommunications relay
7system, using third party intervention to connect those persons
8having a hearing or speech disability with persons of normal
9hearing by way of intercommunications devices and the telephone
10system, making available reasonable access to all phases of
11public telephone service to persons who have a hearing or
12speech disability. In order to design a telecommunications
13relay system which will meet the requirements of those persons
14with a hearing or speech disability available at a reasonable
15cost, the Commission shall initiate an investigation and
16conduct public hearings to determine the most cost-effective
17method of providing telecommunications relay service to those
18persons who have a hearing or speech disability when using
19telecommunications devices and therein solicit the advice,
20counsel, and physical assistance of Statewide nonprofit
21consumer organizations that serve persons with hearing or
22speech disabilities in such hearings and during the development
23and implementation of the system. The Commission shall phase in
24this program, on a geographical basis, as soon as is
25practicable, but no later than June 30, 1990.
26    (c) The Commission shall establish a competitively neutral

 

 

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1rate recovery mechanism that establishes , authorizing charges
2in an amount to be determined by the Commission for each line
3of a subscriber to allow telecommunications carriers providing
4local exchange service to recover costs as they are incurred
5under this Section.
6    (d) The Commission shall determine and specify those
7organizations serving the needs of those persons having a
8hearing or speech disability that shall receive a
9telecommunications device and in which offices the equipment
10shall be installed in the case of an organization having more
11than one office. For the purposes of this Section,
12"organizations serving the needs of those persons with hearing
13or speech disabilities" means centers for independent living as
14described in Section 12a of the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation
15Act and not-for-profit organizations whose primary purpose is
16serving the needs of those persons with hearing or speech
17disabilities. The Commission shall direct the
18telecommunications carriers subject to its jurisdiction and
19this Section to comply with its determinations and
20specifications in this regard.
21    (e) As used in this Section:
22    "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service" means a
23wireless telecommunications service that must be paid for in
24advance and is sold in predetermined units or dollars of which
25the amount declines with use in a known amount.
26    "Retail transaction" has the meaning set forth in Section

 

 

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110 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"
4includes, without otherwise limiting the meaning of the term,
5telecommunications carriers which are purely mutual concerns,
6having no rates or charges for services, but paying the
7operating expenses by assessment upon the members of such a
8company and no other person.
9    "Wireless telecommunications service" means commercial
10mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 332(d).
11    (f) Interconnected VoIP service providers, sellers of
12prepaid wireless telecommunications service, and providers of
13other wireless telecommunications services in Illinois shall
14collect and remit assessments determined by the Commission in
15accordance with this Section in a competitively neutral manner
16in the same manner as a telecommunications carrier providing
17local exchange service; provided, however, that the assessment
18imposed on consumers of prepaid wireless telecommunications
19service shall be imposed per retail transaction.
20Interconnected VoIP services shall not be considered an
21intrastate telecommunications service for the purposes of this
22Section in a manner inconsistent with federal law or Federal
23Communications Commission regulation.
24    (g) The provisions of this Section are severable under
25Section 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,
22015.".