| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to adjustments to universal service plan support for small |
|
|
and rural incumbent local exchange companies. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 56.0321 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 56.0321. ADJUSTMENTS: SMALL AND RURAL INCUMBENT LOCAL |
|
|
EXCHANGE COMPANY UNIVERSAL SERVICE PLAN. (a) For each incumbent |
|
|
local exchange company that serves fewer than 31,000 access lines |
|
|
and is not an electing company under Chapter 58 or 59, the monthly |
|
|
support amounts under a plan established under Section 56.021(1)(B) |
|
|
that the company is eligible to receive on August 31, 2017, may not |
|
|
be adjusted before December 1, 2018. |
|
|
(b) Beginning December 1, 2018, an incumbent local exchange |
|
|
company that serves fewer than 31,000 access lines and is not an |
|
|
electing company under Chapter 58 or 59 is entitled to receive the |
|
|
monthly per line support amount that the company was eligible to |
|
|
receive pursuant to the final order issued by the commission in |
|
|
Docket No. 18516, unless the commission adjusts the company's level |
|
|
of support under Section 56.031 or this section. |
|
|
(c) The commission by rule shall establish procedures, |
|
|
standards, and criteria to determine the appropriate level of |
|
|
support for an incumbent local exchange company that is subject to |
|
|
this section. In adopting rules required by this subsection, the |
|
|
commission: |
|
|
(1) shall establish an application process, including |
|
|
an opportunity for a contested case hearing, to adjust the support |
|
|
provided to a company subject to this section; |
|
|
(2) shall prescribe standards and criteria to evaluate |
|
|
whether a rate increase is an appropriate source of revenue for a |
|
|
company subject to this section as an alternative to maintaining or |
|
|
increasing the level of support provided to the company; |
|
|
(3) may prescribe standards and criteria to determine |
|
|
the appropriate mechanism to adjust the support available to a |
|
|
company subject to this section, including rate rebalancing; |
|
|
(4) may prescribe standards and criteria to determine |
|
|
the appropriate mechanism necessary to maintain reasonable rates |
|
|
for local exchange telephone service for a company subject to this |
|
|
section; and |
|
|
(5) may prescribe the information a company subject to |
|
|
this chapter may be required to provide to the commission for the |
|
|
commission to determine the appropriate level of support and |
|
|
whether rate increases are an appropriate source of revenue. |
|
|
(d) This section does not restrict the commission's |
|
|
authority under Chapter 53 or this chapter. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 56.032, Utilities Code, is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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 September 1, 2017. |