By: Hilderbran H.B. No. 3384
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility for and distributions of universal
service funds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.001, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subdivisions (3) and (4) to read as follows:
(3) "Unsubsidized competitor" means a
facilities-based provider of voice telephony service that does not
receive support from a plan established under Section 56.021(1).
(4) "Voice telephony service" means a voice service
that satisfies the requirements of 47 CFR 54.101.
SECTION 2. Section 56.021, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.021. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND ESTABLISHED. The
commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring local exchange
companies to establish a universal service fund to:
(1) assist telecommunications providers in providing
basic local telecommunications service at reasonable rates in high
cost rural areas that are not served by an unsubsidized competitor
under two plans:
(A) the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan
(16 T.A.C. Section 26.403); and
(B) the Small and Rural Incumbent Local Exchange
Company Universal Service Plan (16 T.A.C. Section 26.404);
(2) reimburse the telecommunications carrier that
provides the statewide telecommunications relay access service
under Subchapter D;
(3) finance the specialized telecommunications
assistance program established under Subchapter E;
(4) reimburse the department, the Department of
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services [Texas Commission for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing], and the commission for costs incurred in
implementing this chapter [and Chapter 57];
(5) reimburse a telecommunications carrier providing
lifeline service as provided by Section 55.015 [47 C.F.R. Part 54,
Subpart E, as amended];
(6) finance the implementation and administration of
an integrated eligibility process created under Section 17.007 for
customer service discounts relating to telecommunications
services, including outreach expenses the commission determines
are reasonable and necessary;
(7) reimburse a designated provider under Subchapter
F;
(8) reimburse a successor utility under Subchapter G;
and
(9) finance the program established under Subchapter
H.
SECTION 3. Section 56.023(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) in a manner that assures reasonable rates for
basic local telecommunications service, adopt eligibility criteria
and review procedures, including a method for administrative
review, the commission finds necessary to fund the universal
service fund and make distributions from that fund;
(2) determine which telecommunications providers meet
the eligibility criteria;
(3) determine the amount of and approve a procedure
for reimbursement to telecommunications providers of revenue lost
in providing lifeline [tel-assistance] service under Section
55.015 [Subchapter C];
(4) establish and collect fees from the universal
service fund necessary to recover the costs the department and the
commission incur in administering this chapter [and Chapter 57];
and
(5) approve procedures for the collection and
disbursal of the revenue of the universal service fund.
SECTION 4. Section 56.031, Utilities Code, as effective
September 1, 2013, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 56.031. ADJUSTMENTS: TEXAS HIGH COST UNIVERSAL SERVICE
PLAN. The commission may revise the monthly per line support
amounts to be made available from the Texas High Cost Universal
Service Plan for an exchange of a local exchange company or
cooperative that is not ineligible for support under Section
56.0315 [and from the Small and Rural Incumbent Local Exchange
Company Universal Service Plan at any time after September 1,
2007,] after notice and an opportunity for hearing. In determining
appropriate monthly per line support amounts, the commission shall
consider the adequacy of basic rates to support universal service.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 56.0315 to read as follows:
Sec. 56.0315. INELIGIBILITY FOR SUPPORT. (a) A local exchange
company or cooperative that serves 31,000 or more access lines is
not eligible to receive support from a plan established under
Section 56.021(1) in an exchange in which 50 percent or more of the
residents in the exchange are offered voice telephony service by
one or more unsubsidized competitors.
(b) When the commission determines that an exchange is no
longer eligible for support under Subsection (a), the commission
shall withdraw support through a reasonable transition period of
not more than three years.
(c) The commission shall conduct a contested case to
determine the eligibility of an exchange for support under this
section on receipt of a petition by an unsubsidized competitor who
claims the exchange is ineligible for support under this section.
(d) This section does not apply to a local exchange company
or cooperative that, before October 1, 2013, commits to the
commission that the company or cooperative will eliminate the
company's or cooperative's support from a plan established under
Section 56.021(1) beginning January 1, 2017, or before that date.
SECTION 6. Sections 56.032(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (h),
Utilities Code, as added by Chapter 535 (H.B. 2603), Acts of the
82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, are amended to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections [(c),] (d), (e), and
(f), the commission may revise the monthly support amounts to be
made available from the Small and Rural Incumbent Local Exchange
Company Universal Service Plan [by revising the monthly per line
support amounts,] after notice and an opportunity for hearing. In
determining appropriate monthly [per line] support amounts, the
commission shall consider the adequacy of basic rates to support
universal service.
(c) A company receiving a fixed monthly support amount
prescribed in a final order issued by the commission in Docket No.
39643 shall continue to receive that fixed support amount until the
amount is revised under Subsection (b). [On the written request of a
small or rural incumbent local exchange company that receives
monthly per-line support amounts, the commission shall disburse
funds to the company in fixed monthly amounts based on the company's
annualized amount of recovery for the calendar year ending on
December 31, 2010. A company may submit only one request under this
subsection and must submit the request on or before December 31,
2011.]
(d) For each [On the written request of a] small or rural
incumbent local exchange company that is not an electing company
under Chapter 58 or 59, or receiving fixed support amounts
described by Subsection (c), the commission annually shall set the
company's monthly support amounts for the following 12 months by
dividing by 12 the annualized support amount calculated under this
subsection. The commission shall calculate the annualized amount:
(1) for the initial 12-month period for which a
company makes an election under this subsection, by[:
[A] determining the annualized support amount
received by the company as of January 1, 2013 [calculated for the
requestor in the final order issued by the commission in Docket No.
18516; and
[(B) adjusting the support amount determined under
Paragraph (A) at the beginning of each calendar year by a factor
equal to the most recent consumer price index published at that
time, beginning with the 1999 calendar year and ending in the year
the company makes an election under this subsection]; and
(2) for [the 12 month period following the initial
period for which a company made an election under this subsection
and for] subsequent 12-month periods, by adjusting the most recent
annualized support amount calculated by the commission by a factor
equal to the percentage change in the consumer price index for the
most recent 12-month period.
(e) The [If a company elects to receive monthly support
amounts under Subsection (d), the] commission, on its own motion or
on the written request of the company, may initiate a proceeding to
recalculate the most recent annualized support amount to be used as
the basis for adjustment for a subsequent 12-month period under
Subsection (d)(2). If, based on the recalculation, the commission
by order adjusts a company's most recent annualized support amount,
the adjusted support amount supersedes the annualized support
amount calculated in accordance with Subsection (d).
(f) [The commission shall administratively review requests
filed under Subsections (c) and (d).] Except for good cause, the
commission shall set monthly support amounts under Subsection (d)
[approve the request] not later than the 60th day after the date the
commission determines the company is eligible [and has met all the
procedural requirements under this subchapter].
[(h) This section and any monthly support amount approved
under this section expire on September 1, 2013.]
SECTION 7. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas
immediately shall investigate the eligibility for support under
Section 56.0315, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, of exchanges
served by a local exchange company or cooperative and shall
determine not later than October 1, 2013, whether to initiate, on
the commission's own motion, one or more contested cases to
determine the eligibility of exchanges served by a local exchange
company or cooperative for support under Section 56.0315, Utilities
Code, as added by this Act.
(b) The Public Utility Commission of Texas is required to
conduct a contested case under Section 56.0315, Utilities Code, as
added by this Act, only on receipt of a petition described by that
section that is presented to the commission on or after July 1,
2014.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect August 31, 2013.