BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 823 By: Heflin March 14, 1995 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Current Texas law under Article 1446c, VTCS caps the amount a hotel or motel may charge for local telephone calls (or other calls from a hotel room for which operator assistance is not required) at 50 cents. While this is the maximum amount that may be billed, whether to charge a fee is decided by each hotel or motel based on market forces. Texas is one of three states, and the largest nationally, that caps their local/non-assisted dialing charge at 50 cents per call. The majority of other states have either no cap, or a cap of $1.00. PURPOSE The purpose of HB 823 is to raise the amount hotels and motels can charge for local telephone calls or other calls made without operator assistance from 50 cents to a dollar. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 93B of the Public Utility Regulatory Act (Article 1446c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statues) by changing the amount a hotel or motel can charge for local telephone calls, credit card telephone calls, collect telephone calls, or any other local telephone calls for which assistance from the hotel or motel operator is not required from 50 cents to $1.00. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Immediate effect. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Removes the cap on the amount a hotel or motel can charge for telephone calls and provides for a mandatory disclosure to be provided to the occupant upon check-in, and to prominently display the amount charged on or near each telephone. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION H.B. 823 was considered by the committee in a public hearing on March 6, 1995. Testifying in favor of the bill was Don Hansen representing the Texas Hotel and Motel Association; and Daniel Prosser, representing the Telman Group, Incorporated. No one testified against the bill. The committee considered a complete substitute for the bill. The substitute was left pending in committee. H.B. 823 was left pending in committee for further consideration. H.B. 823 was reconsidered by the committee in a public hearing on March 13, 1995. The committee reconsidered the complete substitute for the bill. The substitute was withdrawn without objection. The committee considered an amendment to the bill. The amendment was adopted by a record of 6 ayes, 1 nay, 0 pnv, 2 absent. H.B. 823 was reported favorably as amended, with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of 5 ayes, 2 nays, 0 pnv, 2 absent.