HB 0313

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Commerce Council recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to Lifeline telecommunications services;
7	amending s. 364.10, F.S.; requiring that Lifeline
8	Assistance Plans be provided by eligible
9	telecommunications carriers; deleting requirement that
10	such plans be provided by telecommunications companies
11	serving as carriers of last resort; defining the term
12	"eligible telecommunications carrier"; requiring such
13	carriers to offer Lifeline service applicants and
14	recipients the option of blocking or limiting toll calls
15	under certain circumstances; prohibiting the carrier from
16	requiring a service deposit from certain consumers
17	electing to block or limit toll calls; prohibiting a
18	number-portability charge to Lifeline subscribers;
19	providing requirements for termination of Lifeline
20	service; requiring the Public Service Commission to
21	establish procedures for notification and termination of
22	Lifeline service; requiring the carrier to timely credit a
23	consumer's bill with Lifeline Assistance credits;
24	providing criteria for connection, reconnection, and
25	discontinuation of basic local telecommunications service
26	for Lifeline Assistance subscribers; providing criteria
27	for blocking access to long-distance service; adding the
28	Department of Education and the Office of Public Counsel
29	to those agencies that are directed to cooperate in
30	developing procedures for promoting Lifeline
31	participation; requiring the commission to adopt rules;
32	requiring certain telecommunications companies to file
33	with the commission a report on Lifeline participation;
34	requiring the commission to file the report with the
35	Legislature; providing for comment on the report's
36	findings by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
37	Government Accountability and the Public Service
38	Commission; providing an effective date.
39
40	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
41
42	Section 1.  Section 364.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to
43	read:
44	364.10  Undue advantage to person or locality prohibited;
45	Lifeline service.--
46	(1)  A telecommunications company may not make or give any
47	undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any person or
48	locality or subject any particular person or locality to any
49	undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect
50	whatsoever.
51	(2)(a)  The prohibitions of subsection (1) notwithstanding,
52	an eligible telecommunications carrier a telecommunications
53	company serving as carrier of last resort shall provide a
54	Lifeline Assistance Plan to qualified residential subscribers,
55	as defined in a commission-approved tariff or price list, and a
56	preferential rate to eligible facilities as provided for in part
57	II. For the purposes of this section, the term "eligible
58	telecommunications carrier" means a telecommunications company,
59	as defined by s. 364.02, which is designated as an eligible
60	telecommunications carrier by the commission pursuant to 47
61	C.F.R. s. 54.201.
62	(b)  An eligible telecommunications carrier shall offer a
63	consumer who applies for or receives Lifeline service the option
64	of blocking all toll calls or, if technically capable, placing a
65	limit on the number of toll calls a consumer can make. The
66	eligible telecommunications carrier may not charge the consumer
67	an administrative charge or other additional fee for blocking
68	the service.
69	(c)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may not collect
70	a service deposit in order to initiate Lifeline service if the
71	qualifying low-income consumer voluntarily elects toll blocking
72	or toll limitation. If the qualifying low-income consumer elects
73	not to place toll blocking on the line, an eligible
74	telecommunications carrier may charge a service deposit.
75	(d)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may not charge
76	Lifeline subscribers a monthly number-portability charge.
77	(e)1.  An eligible telecommunications carrier must notify a
78	Lifeline subscriber of impending termination of Lifeline service
79	if the company has a reasonable basis for believing that the
80	subscriber no longer qualifies. Notification of pending
81	termination must be in the form of a letter that is separate
82	from the subscriber's bill.
83	2.  An eligible telecommunications carrier shall allow a
84	subscriber 60 days following the date of the pending termination
85	letter to demonstrate continued eligibility. The subscriber must
86	present proof of continued eligibility. An eligible
87	telecommunications carrier may transfer a subscriber off of
88	Lifeline service, pursuant to its tariff, if the subscriber
89	fails to demonstrate continued eligibility.
90	3.  The commission shall establish procedures for such
91	notification and termination.
92	(f)  An eligible telecommunications carrier shall timely
93	credit a consumer's bill with the Lifeline Assistance credit as
94	soon as practicable, but no later than 60 days following receipt
95	of notice of eligibility from the Office of Public Counsel or
96	proof of eligibility from the consumer.
97	(3)(a)  Effective September 1, 2003, any local exchange
98	telecommunications company authorized by the commission to
99	reduce its switched network access rate pursuant to s. 364.164
100	shall have tariffed and shall provide Lifeline service to any
101	otherwise eligible customer or potential customer who meets an
102	income eligibility test at 125 percent or less of the federal
103	poverty income guidelines for Lifeline customers. Such a test
104	for eligibility must augment, rather than replace, the
105	eligibility standards established by federal law and based on
106	participation in certain low-income assistance programs. Each
107	intrastate interexchange telecommunications company shall,
108	effective September 1, 2003, file a tariff providing at a
109	minimum the intrastate interexchange telecommunications
110	carrier's current Lifeline benefits and exemptions to Lifeline
111	customers who meet the income eligibility test set forth in this
112	subsection. The Office of Public Counsel shall certify and
113	maintain claims submitted by a customer for eligibility under
114	the income test authorized by this subsection.
115	(b)  Each eligible telecommunications carrier local
116	exchange telecommunications company subject to this subsection
117	shall provide to each state and federal agency providing
118	benefits to persons eligible for Lifeline service applications,
119	brochures, pamphlets, or other materials that inform the such
120	persons of their eligibility for Lifeline, and each state agency
121	providing the such benefits shall furnish the materials to
122	affected persons at the time they apply for benefits.
123	(c)  Any local exchange telecommunications company customer
124	receiving Lifeline benefits shall not be subject to any
125	residential basic local telecommunications service rate
126	increases authorized by s. 364.164 until the local exchange
127	telecommunications company reaches parity as defined in s.
128	364.164(5) or until the customer no longer qualifies for the
129	Lifeline benefits established by this section or s. 364.105, or
130	unless otherwise determined by the commission upon petition by a
131	local exchange telecommunications company.
132	(d)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may not
133	discontinue basic local exchange telephone service to a
134	subscriber who receives Lifeline service because of nonpayment
135	by the subscriber of charges for nonbasic services billed by the
136	telecommunications company, including long-distance service. A
137	subscriber who receives Lifeline service shall be required to
138	pay all applicable basic local exchange service fees, including
139	the subscriber line charge, E-911, telephone relay system
140	charges, and applicable state and federal taxes.
141	(e)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may not refuse
142	to connect, reconnect, or provide Lifeline service because of
143	unpaid toll charges or nonbasic charges other than basic local
144	exchange service.
145	(f)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may require
146	that payment arrangements be made for outstanding debt
147	associated with basic local exchange service, subscriber line
148	charges, E-911, telephone relay system charges, and applicable
149	state and federal taxes.
150	(g)  An eligible telecommunications carrier may block a
151	Lifeline service subscriber's access to all long-distance
152	service, except for toll-free numbers, and may block the ability
153	to accept collect calls, when the subscriber owes an outstanding
154	amount for long-distance service or amounts resulting from
155	collect calls. However, the eligible telecommunications carrier
156	may not impose a charge for blocking long-distance service. The
157	eligible telecommunications carrier shall remove the block at
158	the request of the subscriber without additional cost to the
159	subscriber upon payment of the outstanding amount. An eligible
160	telecommunications carrier may charge a service deposit before
161	removing the block.
162	(h)(d)  By December 31, 2003, each state agency that
163	provides benefits to persons eligible for Lifeline service shall
164	undertake, in cooperation with the Department of Children and
165	Family Services, the Department of Education, the commission,
166	the Office of Public Counsel, and telecommunications companies
167	providing Lifeline services, the development of procedures to
168	promote Lifeline participation.
169	(i)(e)  The commission shall report to the Governor, the
170	President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
171	Representatives by December 31 each year on the number of
172	customers who are subscribing to Lifeline service and the
173	effectiveness of any procedures to promote participation.
174	(j)  The commission shall adopt rules to administer this
175	section.
176	Section 2.  By January 15, 2006, and in furtherance of its
177	Lifeline educational and promotional efforts, each
178	telecommunications company that has, by July 1, 2005, had a
179	petition granted under s. 364.164, Florida Statutes, shall file
180	with the Public Service Commission a report on Lifeline
181	participation in the state. The report shall be produced by the
182	Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida and
183	shall be conducted under the auspices of the Public Service
184	Commission and the Office of the Public Counsel. The report
185	must, at a minimum, identify the total number of eligible
186	customers, without duplication occasioned by the applicability
187	of multiple eligibility criteria established, as of March 31,
188	2005, by law, commission order, or approved company agreement.
189	The report may also report on subscribership differences among
190	socioeconomic segments within the population of Lifeline-
191	eligible Floridians to the extent that any identifiable
192	segment's inclination to subscribe to Lifeline services of a
193	local exchange telecommunications company differs. Such report
194	may be filed with the commission jointly or individually by
195	companies covered by this section. By March 1, 2006, the
196	commission shall file the report with the President of the
197	Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, along
198	with supplemental information or commission comment, if any,
199	deemed relevant by the commission. By January 15, 2006, a copy
200	of the report shall be provided to the Office of Program Policy
201	Analysis and Government Accountability and the Public Service
202	Commission, which shall provide comment, if any, on the report's
203	findings to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
204	House of Representatives by March 1, 2006.
205	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.