1-1 By: Barrientos S.B. No. 1441
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Human Services;
1-4 April 19, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 19, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1441 By: Gallegos
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to expanding the specialized telecommunications devices
1-11 assistance program.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 56.021, Utilities Code, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 56.021. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND ESTABLISHED. The
1-16 commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring local exchange
1-17 companies to establish a universal service fund to:
1-18 (1) assist local exchange companies in providing basic
1-19 local telecommunications service at reasonable rates in high cost
1-20 rural areas;
1-21 (2) reimburse local exchange companies for revenue
1-22 lost by providing tel-assistance service under Subchapter C;
1-23 (3) reimburse the telecommunications carrier that
1-24 provides the statewide telecommunications relay access service
1-25 under Subchapter D;
1-26 (4) finance the specialized telecommunications
1-27 [device] assistance program established under Subchapter E; and
1-28 (5) reimburse the department, the Texas Commission for
1-29 the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and the commission for costs incurred
1-30 in implementing this chapter and Chapter 57.
1-31 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 56.110, Utilities Code,
1-32 is amended to read as follows:
1-33 (a) An advisory committee to assist the commission in
1-34 administering this subchapter is composed of the following persons
1-35 appointed by the commission:
1-36 (1) two persons with disabilities that impair the
1-37 ability to effectively access the telephone network other than
1-38 disabilities described by Subdivisions (2)-(7);
1-39 (2) one deaf person recommended by the Texas Deaf
1-40 Caucus;
1-41 (3) [(2)] one deaf person recommended by the Texas
1-42 Association of the Deaf;
1-43 (4) [(3)] one person with a hearing impairment
1-44 recommended by Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing;
1-45 (5) [(4)] one person with a hearing impairment
1-46 recommended by the American Association of Retired Persons;
1-47 (6) [(5)] one deaf and blind person recommended by the
1-48 Texas Deaf/Blind Association;
1-49 (7) [(6)] one person with a speech impairment and one
1-50 person with a speech and hearing impairment recommended by the
1-51 Coalition of Texans with Disabilities;
1-52 (8) [(7)] two representatives of telecommunications
1-53 utilities, one representing a nonlocal exchange utility and one
1-54 representing a local exchange company, chosen from a list of
1-55 candidates provided by the Texas Telephone Association;
1-56 (9) [(8)] two persons, at least one of whom is deaf,
1-57 with experience in providing relay services recommended by the
1-58 Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; and
1-59 (10) [(9)] two public members recommended by
1-60 organizations representing consumers of telecommunications
1-61 services.
1-62 SECTION 3. Section 56.111, Utilities Code, is amended to
1-63 read as follows:
1-64 Sec. 56.111. ADVISORY COMMITTEE DUTIES. The advisory
2-1 committee shall:
2-2 (1) monitor the establishment, administration, and
2-3 promotion of the statewide telecommunications relay access service;
2-4 (2) advise the commission in pursuing a service that
2-5 meets the needs of persons with an impairment of hearing or speech
2-6 in communicating with other telecommunications services users; and
2-7 (3) advise the commission and the Texas Commission for
2-8 the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, at the request of either commission,
2-9 regarding any issue related to the specialized telecommunications
2-10 [device] assistance program established under Subchapter E,
2-11 including:
2-12 (A) devices or services suitable to meet the
2-13 needs of persons with disabilities [the hearing-impaired and
2-14 speech-impaired] in communicating with other users of
2-15 telecommunications services; and
2-16 (B) oversight and administration of the program.
2-17 SECTION 4. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 56,
2-18 Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-19 SUBCHAPTER E. SPECIALIZED TELECOMMUNICATIONS [DEVICE]
2-20 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
2-21 SECTION 5. Sections 56.151 through 56.154, Utilities Code,
2-22 are amended to read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 56.151. SPECIALIZED TELECOMMUNICATIONS [DEVICE]
2-24 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. The commission and the Texas Commission for
2-25 the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by rule shall establish a specialized
2-26 telecommunications assistance program to provide financial
2-27 assistance to [certain] individuals with disabilities that impair
2-28 the individuals' ability to effectively access the telephone
2-29 network [who are deaf or have an impairment of hearing or speech]
2-30 to enable the individuals to purchase specialized equipment or
2-31 services to provide telephone network access that is functionally
2-32 equivalent to that enjoyed by individuals without disabilities [an
2-33 impairment of hearing or speech].
2-34 Sec. 56.152. ELIGIBILITY. The Texas Commission for the Deaf
2-35 and Hard of Hearing by rule shall prescribe eligibility standards
2-36 for individuals, including deaf individuals and individuals who
2-37 have an impairment of hearing or speech, to receive an assistance
2-38 voucher under the program. To be eligible, an individual must be a
2-39 resident of this state who has access to a telephone line in the
2-40 individual's home or place of business.
2-41 Sec. 56.153. VOUCHERS. (a) The Texas Commission for the
2-42 Deaf and Hard of Hearing shall determine a reasonable price for [a]
2-43 basic telecommunications devices or services [device for the deaf
2-44 (TDD or TTY)] and distribute to each eligible applicant a voucher
2-45 that guarantees payment of that amount to a distributor of new
2-46 specialized telecommunications devices described by Section 56.151
2-47 or to a provider of services described by that section.
2-48 (b) A voucher must have the value printed on its face. The
2-49 individual exchanging a voucher for the purchase of a specialized
2-50 telecommunications device or service is responsible for payment of
2-51 the difference between the voucher's value and the price of the
2-52 device or service.
2-53 (c) The commission and the Texas Commission for the Deaf and
2-54 Hard of Hearing by rule shall provide that a distributor of devices
2-55 or a provider of services will receive not more than the full price
2-56 of the device or service [a specialized telecommunications device]
2-57 if the recipient of a voucher exchanges the voucher for a device or
2-58 service that the distributor or provider sells for less than the
2-59 voucher's value.
2-60 (d) An individual who has exchanged a voucher for a
2-61 specialized telecommunications device is not eligible to receive
2-62 another voucher before the seventh anniversary of the date the
2-63 individual exchanged the previously issued voucher.
2-64 (e) An individual is not eligible for a voucher if the Texas
2-65 Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has issued a voucher to
2-66 another individual in the individual's household for a device or
2-67 service to serve the same telephone line.
2-68 (f) [(e)] The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of
2-69 Hearing shall:
3-1 (1) process each application for a voucher to
3-2 determine eligibility of the applicant; and
3-3 (2) give each eligible applicant a voucher on payment
3-4 of a $35 fee.
3-5 (g) [(f)] The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of
3-6 Hearing shall maintain a record regarding each individual who
3-7 receives a voucher under the program.
3-8 (h) [(g)] The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of
3-9 Hearing shall deposit money collected under the program to the
3-10 credit of the universal service fund.
3-11 Sec. 56.154. COMMISSION DUTIES. (a) Not later than the
3-12 45th day after the date the commission receives a voucher a
3-13 telecommunications device distributor presents for payment or a
3-14 voucher a telecommunications service provider presents for payment,
3-15 the commission shall pay to the distributor or service provider the
3-16 lesser of the value of a voucher properly exchanged for a
3-17 specialized telecommunications device or service or the full price
3-18 of the device or service for which a voucher recipient exchanges
3-19 the voucher. The payments must be made from the universal service
3-20 fund.
3-21 (b) The commission may investigate whether the presentation
3-22 of a voucher for payment represents a valid transaction for a
3-23 telecommunications device or service under the program. The Texas
3-24 Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing shall cooperate with
3-25 and assist the commission in an investigation under this
3-26 subsection.
3-27 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 56.155, Utilities Code,
3-28 is amended to read as follows:
3-29 (a) The commission shall allow a telecommunications utility
3-30 to recover the universal service fund assessment related to the
3-31 specialized telecommunications [device] assistance program through
3-32 a surcharge added to the utility's customers' bills.
3-33 SECTION 7. (a) In accordance with Subsection (c), Section
3-34 311.031, Government Code, which gives effect to a substantive
3-35 amendment enacted by the same legislature that codifies the
3-36 amended statute, the text of Section 56.021, Subsection (a),
3-37 Section 56.110, Sections 56.111, 56.151, 56.152, 56.153, and
3-38 56.154, and Subsection (a), Section 56.155, Utilities Code, as set
3-39 out in Sections 1 through 6 of this Act, gives effect to changes
3-40 made by Chapter 149, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
3-41 Session, 1997.
3-42 (b) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
3-43 another Act of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999,
3-44 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
3-45 codes.
3-46 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-47 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
3-48 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-49 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-50 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-51 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-52 * * * * *