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Amend Floor Amendment No. 1 by Fraser to SB 21, in SECTION 13
of the amendment, by striking added Section 56.029, Utilities Code,
and substituting the following:
Sec. 56.029. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND STUDY; ATTESTATION
REQUIREMENT. (a) The commission shall conduct a review and
evaluation of whether the universal service fund accomplishes the
fund's purposes as prescribed by Section 56.021 and the
commission's final orders issued in Docket No. 18515 and Docket No.
18516. The evaluation shall determine whether the fund's purposes
have been sufficiently achieved, whether the fund should be
abolished or phased out, whether the fund should be brought within
the state's treasury, and whether the entities receiving those
funds are spending the money for its intended purposes. The
evaluation must include a forward-looking, comprehensive
assessment of the appropriate use of the money in the fund and the
manner in which that money is collected and disbursed.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2006, the commission shall
require telecommunications providers receiving disbursements under
the universal service fund to provide to the commission the
information that the commission determines is necessary to
discharge the commission's duties under this section, including
information necessary to review and evaluate how money is collected
for the universal service fund and expended.
(c) Information provided under Subsection (b) is
confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
(d) The commission may classify telecommunications
providers as the commission considers appropriate for efficiency
and may permit providers to share the cost of developing
information the commission determines is necessary to discharge the
commission's responsibilities under this section.
(e) Not later than January 5, 2007, the commission shall
deliver to the legislature a report for the legislature's revision
and approval on the results of the review and evaluation. The
report must:
(1) include recommendations that are consistent with
the policies provided by this title;
(2) include the commission's assessment of the
universal service fund, including:
(A) how the money in the fund should be
collected;
(B) how the money in the fund should be disbursed
and the purposes for which the money should be used by the
telecommunications provider receiving the money; and
(C) any recommendations the commission has in
relation to accountability for use of the money, including the
usefulness of the attestation required by Subsection (g); and
(3) include recommendations that ensure that a
telecommunications provider's support from the universal service
fund for a geographic area is consistent with Section 56.021 and the
commission's final orders issued in Docket No. 18515 and Docket No.
18516.
(f) The evaluation shall determine whether the fund's
purposes have been sufficiently achieved, whether the fund should
be abolished or phased out, whether the fund should be brought
within the state's treasury, and whether the entities receiving
those funds are spending the money for its intended purposes.
(g) Not later than December 31, 2005, each
telecommunications provider receiving universal service funds
shall file with the commission an affidavit attesting that the
money from the fund has been used in a manner that is consistent
with the purposes provided by Section 56.021 and the commission's
final orders issued in Docket No. 18515 and Docket No. 18516.
(h) In addition to the study required by this section, the
commission shall compile information necessary to determine
whether the current funding mechanism for the universal service
fund will be adequate in the future to sustain the purposes for
which the fund was created considering the development of new
technologies that are not subject to the existing funding mechanism
and the shift in jurisdictional control from this state to the
federal government. Not later than January 5, 2007, the commission
shall deliver to the legislature a report on this issue. If the
commission determines that the existing funding mechanism is not
adequate, or proposes to change the manner or level of current
funding, the commission must include recommendations for
alternative funding and basic service pricing methods that will be
adequate and are consistent with a policy of technology and
competitive neutrality in the assessment of fees and other
state-imposed economic burdens.
(i) This section expires September 1, 2007.