Florida Senate - 2011 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1524
Barcode 905238
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 3/AD/2R .
04/27/2011 10:22 AM .
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Senator Simmons moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 1085 and 1086
4 insert:
5 Section 32. Section 364.336, Florida Statutes, is amended
6 to read:
7 364.336 Regulatory assessment fees.—
8 (1) Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary,
9 each telecommunications company licensed or operating under this
10 chapter, for any part of the preceding 6-month period, shall pay
11 to the commission, within 30 days following the end of each 6
12 month period, a fee that may not exceed 0.25 percent annually of
13 its gross operating revenues derived from intrastate business,
14 except, for purposes of this section and the fee specified in s.
15 350.113(3), any amount paid to another telecommunications
16 company for the use of any telecommunications network shall be
17 deducted from the gross operating revenue for purposes of
18 computing the fee due. The commission shall by rule assess a
19 minimum fee in an amount up to $1,000. The minimum amount may
20 vary depending on the type of service provided by the
21 telecommunications company, and shall, to the extent
22 practicable, be related to the cost of regulating such type of
23 company. Differences, if any, between the amount paid in any 6
24 month period and the amount actually determined by the
25 commission to be due shall, upon motion by the commission, be
26 immediately paid or refunded. Fees under this section may not be
27 less than $50 annually. Such fees shall be deposited in
28 accordance with s. 350.113. The commission may by rule establish
29 criteria for payment of the regulatory assessment fee on an
30 annual basis rather than on a semiannual basis.
31 (2) By August 1, 2011, the commission must begin rulemaking
32 to reduce the regulatory assessment fee for telecommunications
33 companies under s. 350.113 and this section, as required to
34 reflect the reduction in regulation resulting from the
35 amendments to this chapter which take effect on or after July 1,
36 2011. The reduced fee shall be applied beginning with payments
37 due in January 2012 on revenues for the preceding 6-month
38 period. The commission’s consideration of the required amount of
39 the reduction to the regulatory assessment fee must include, but
40 is not limited to:
41 (a) The regulatory activities that are no longer required
42 and the number of staff currently assigned to such activities.
43 (b) The number of staff necessary to carry out the reduced
44 level of regulatory responsibilities based on reductions in
45 workload for the staff in the Division of Regulatory Analysis,
46 the Office of Auditing and Performance Analysis, and the
47 Division of Service, Safety and Consumer Assistance.
48 (c) The reductions in overhead associated with the
49 commissioner’s offices, the Office of General Counsel, the
50 Office of Commission Clerk, the Office of Information Technology
51 Services, the Office of Public Information, and the Office of
52 Inspector General.
53 (d) The reductions in direct and indirect costs, including
54 allocations of fixed costs.
55 (3) By January 15, 2012, and annually thereafter, the
56 commission must report to the Governor, the President of the
57 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
58 providing a detailed description of its efforts to reduce the
59 regulatory assessment fee for telecommunications companies,
60 including a detailed description of the regulatory activities
61 that are no longer required; the commensurate reduction in costs
62 associated with this reduction in regulation; the regulatory
63 activities that continue to be required under this chapter; and
64 the costs associated with those regulatory activities.
65
66 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
67 And the title is amended as follows:
68 Delete line 99
69 and insert:
70 of authority; amending s. 364.336, F.S.; requiring the
71 commission to begin by a specified date rulemaking
72 procedures to reduce the regulatory assessment fee
73 charged to telecommunications companies; setting forth
74 the issues to be considered for reducing the
75 regulatory assessment fee; requiring the commission to
76 provide the Governor and the Legislature with a
77 detailed description of its activities to reduce the
78 regulatory assessment fee; repealing s. 364.337, F.S.,
79 relating to