By Naishtat H.B. No. 2345
77R6560 JJT-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the specialized telecommunications assistance program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 56.152, Utilities Code, is amended to read
1-5 as follows:
1-6 Sec. 56.152. ELIGIBILITY. The Texas Commission for the Deaf
1-7 and Hard of Hearing by rule shall prescribe eligibility standards
1-8 for individuals, including deaf individuals and individuals who
1-9 have an impairment of hearing or speech, to receive an assistance
1-10 voucher under the program. To be eligible, an individual must be a
1-11 resident of this state [who has access to a telephone line in the
1-12 individual's home or place of business].
1-13 SECTION 2. Sections 56.153(a), (d), (e), and (f), Utilities
1-14 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
1-16 shall determine a reasonable price for a [basic] specialized
1-17 telecommunications device or [basic] specialized services to
1-18 provide telephone network access from a home or business and
1-19 distribute to each eligible applicant a voucher that guarantees
1-20 payment of that amount to a distributor of new specialized
1-21 telecommunications devices described by Section 56.151 or to a
1-22 provider of services described by that section. The Texas
1-23 Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing may issue a voucher for
1-24 a service only if the service is less expensive than a device
2-1 eligible for a voucher under the program to meet the same need.
2-2 (d) An individual who has exchanged a voucher for a
2-3 specialized telecommunications device is not eligible to receive
2-4 another voucher before the fifth [seventh] anniversary of the date
2-5 the individual exchanged the previously issued voucher unless,
2-6 before that date, the recipient develops a need for a different
2-7 type of telecommunications device or service under the program
2-8 because the recipient's disability changes or the recipient
2-9 acquires another disability.
2-10 (e) An individual is not eligible for a voucher if the Texas
2-11 Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has issued a voucher to
2-12 another individual in the individual's household for a device or
2-13 service [to serve the same telephone line].
2-14 (f) The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
2-15 shall[:]
2-16 [(1) process each application for a voucher to]
2-17 determine eligibility of each person who files an application for a
2-18 voucher and issue [the applicant; and]
2-19 [(2) give] each eligible applicant an appropriate [a]
2-20 voucher [on payment of a $35 fee].
2-21 SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is
2-22 amended by adding Section 56.156 to read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 56.156. PROMOTION OF PROGRAM. The commission may
2-24 promote the program established under this subchapter by means of
2-25 participation in events, advertisements, pamphlets, brochures,
2-26 forms, pins, or other promotional items or efforts that provide
2-27 contact information for persons interested in applying for a
3-1 voucher under the program.
3-2 SECTION 4. Section 55.203, Utilities Code, is amended by
3-3 adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
3-4 (g) The rules adopted under Subsection (d) shall provide
3-5 that a publisher must list prominently the contact information for
3-6 the specialized telecommunications assistance program established
3-7 under Subchapter E, Chapter 56.
3-8 SECTION 5. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall:
3-9 (1) as soon as is practicable after the effective date
3-10 of this Act, adopt rules under Subchapter E, Chapter 56, Utilities
3-11 Code, as amended by this Act, to conform the specialized
3-12 telecommunications assistance program established under that
3-13 subchapter to the changes in law made by this Act; and
3-14 (2) adopt rules under Section 55.203(g), Utilities
3-15 Code, as added by this Act, promptly and make them apply to
3-16 directories published on or after January 1, 2002.
3-17 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.