By:  Averitt                                                      S.B. No. 40 
	(In the Senate - Filed June 24, 2005; June 24, 2005, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce; 
July 6, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable Committee 
Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; July 6, 2005, 
sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 40                                     By:  Carona


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to a comprehensive study of right-of-way use compensation 
paid to governmental entities by communications and technology 
providers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON 
COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY.  (a)  The Joint Legislative 
Oversight Committee on Communications and Technology is created.
	(b)  The committee shall conduct a study on right-of-way use 
compensation paid to governmental entities by communications and 
technology service providers.
	(c)  In this Act, "committee" means the Joint Legislative 
Oversight Committee on Communications and Technology.
	SECTION 2.  COMMITTEE COMPOSITION.  (a)  The committee is 
composed of nine members as follows:
		(1)  the chair of the Senate Committee on Business and 
Commerce;            
		(2)  the chair of the House Committee on Regulated 
Industries;              
		(3)  three members of the senate appointed by the 
lieutenant governor;      
		(4)  three members of the house of representatives 
appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; and
		(5)  the chief executive of the Office of Public 
Utility Counsel.           
	(b)  The appointed members of the committee shall be 
appointed not later than November 1, 2005.  An appointed member of 
the committee serves at the pleasure of the appointing official.
	SECTION 3.  STUDY; REPORT.  (a)  The committee shall conduct 
a comprehensive study and file a report with the legislature not 
later than November 1, 2006, containing the committee's 
revenue-neutral, technology-neutral, and competitively neutral 
recommendations concerning compensation paid to governmental 
entities, including municipalities, by communications and 
technology service providers.  The report shall address the 
following items:
		(1)  all sources of compensation historically paid to 
municipalities and other governmental entities by communications 
and technology service providers for the use of the public 
rights-of-way;
		(2)  the types of communications and technology 
services available to consumers within municipalities, without 
regard to the technology used to deliver such services;
		(3)  alternative funding mechanisms, including the 
possibility of a new communications and technology assessment that 
would include all types of communications and technology service 
providers and that would be technology-neutral, revenue-neutral to 
the municipalities, and competitively neutral in application to the 
providers, their services, and consumers;
		(4)  the mechanism for the assessment, collection, and 
payment of any fee, including franchise fees and right-of-way use 
compensation paid to municipalities;
		(5)  the advantages and disadvantages of state-issued 
franchises for the provision of cable and video services versus 
municipally issued franchises for the provision of those services;
		(6)  the proper terms and conditions of a state-issued 
franchise for the provision of cable and video service if such
franchise is recommended, and how the terms and conditions would be 
imposed and enforced;
		(7)  the proper state agency for issuing a state-issued 
franchise for the provision of cable and video service if such 
franchise is recommended;
		(8)  the role of a municipality if the state issues a 
franchise authorizing the provision of cable and video service 
within the municipality, if franchising by the state is 
recommended;
		(9)  whether any cable and video service provider 
should be exempt from the application of a franchise requirement, 
and, if so, the reasons for such exemption;
		(10)  issues with regard to the imposition of state 
highway right-of-way charges on communications and technology 
service providers; and
		(11)  a review of how utility relocation costs are 
apportioned among communications and technology service providers 
when a utility relocation in the public right-of-way is 
necessitated by a public improvement project.
	(b)  The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall:                             
		(1)  assist with the collection and compilation of 
information necessary to conduct the study under this section;
		(2)  maintain the confidentiality of information 
collected under this section that is claimed to be confidential for 
competitive purposes; and
		(3)  provide a summary of any congressional or federal 
agency actions that have an impact on issues reviewed by the 
committee.
	(c)  Information that is claimed to be confidential under 
Subsection (b) of this section is exempt from disclosure under 
Chapter 552, Government Code.
	(d)  The committee may request reports and other information 
from the Public Utility Commission of Texas, from governmental 
entities, and from communications and technology service providers 
as necessary to carry out this section.
	SECTION 4.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect 
immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members 
elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas 
Constitution.  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for 
immediate effect, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the 
last day of the legislative session.



* * * * *