1-1  By:  Henderson                                        S.B. No. 1644
    1-2        (In the Senate - Filed April 11, 1995; April 11, 1995, read
    1-3  first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
    1-4  April 19, 1995, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
    1-5  vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6  COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                            By:  Henderson
    1-7  Amend S.B. No. 1644, on page 1, line 9 (committee printing page 1,
    1-8  line 27), by striking Section 3.308(a), Subtitle G, Title III,
    1-9  Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1995, and substitute the following
   1-10  in lieu thereof:
   1-11        (a)  If a telecommunications provider is required by the
   1-12  rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission to
   1-13  obtain a written authorization from a subscriber to initiate a
   1-14  primary long distance carrier change, a provider must obtain from
   1-15  the subscriber a written letter of agency that conforms to this
   1-16  section.  A written letter of agency that does not conform to this
   1-17  section is not valid.
   1-18                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
   1-19                                AN ACT
   1-20  relating to the regulation of changes of long distance carriers;
   1-21  providing a penalty.
   1-22        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-23        SECTION 1.  Subtitle G, Title III, Public Utility Regulatory
   1-24  Act of 1995, as enacted by S.B. No. 319, Acts of the 74th
   1-25  Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended by adding Section
   1-26  3.308 to read as follows:
   1-27        Sec. 3.308.  CHANGE OF LONG DISTANCE CARRIER.  (a)  An
   1-28  interexchange carrier may not initiate a primary long distance
   1-29  carrier change unless the carrier obtains from the subscriber a
   1-30  written letter of agency in accordance with this section.  A letter
   1-31  of agency that does not conform to this section is not valid.
   1-32        (b)  A letter of agency is a document authorizing an
   1-33  interexchange carrier to initiate a primary long distance carrier
   1-34  change.  The subscriber requesting the change must sign and date
   1-35  the letter.
   1-36        (c)  At a minimum, a letter of agency must be printed clearly
   1-37  and conspicuously and must contain clear and unambiguous language
   1-38  stating:
   1-39              (1)  the subscriber's billing name and address and each
   1-40  telephone number affected by the change order;
   1-41              (2)  the subscriber's intent to change the subscriber's
   1-42  primary long distance carrier;
   1-43              (3)  the subscriber's designation of the new
   1-44  interexchange carrier to act as the subscriber's agent for the
   1-45  change; and
   1-46              (4)  the subscriber's acknowledgment that the
   1-47  subscriber has notice that the change may cause a charge to be
   1-48  incurred by the subscriber.
   1-49        (d)  A letter of agency may not purport to instruct the
   1-50  subscriber to take an action to retain the subscriber's current
   1-51  interexchange carrier.
   1-52        (e)  An interexchange carrier is liable for any act in
   1-53  violation of this section that is committed by an employee or
   1-54  independent contractor acting on behalf of the carrier.
   1-55        (f)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
   1-56  violates this section.  An offense under this subsection is a
   1-57  felony of the third degree.  If it is shown at the trial of a
   1-58  person under this subsection that the person was previously
   1-59  convicted of an offense under this subsection within the five years
   1-60  preceding the date of the offense for which the person is being
   1-61  tried, the offense is a felony of the first degree.
   1-62        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
   1-63  applies to a change of long distance carriers that is initiated on
   1-64  or after that date.  A change of long distance carriers that is
   1-65  initiated before that date is governed by the law in effect when
   1-66  the change was initiated, and that law is continued in effect for
   1-67  that purpose.
   1-68        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    2-1  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-2  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    2-3  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    2-4  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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