(50 ILCS 750/45)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2024)

Sec. 45. Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund.

(a) A special fund in the State treasury known as the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund, which was created previously under Section 30 of the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act, shall continue in existence without interruption notwithstanding the repeal of that Act. Moneys in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund may be used, subject to appropriation, only (i) to reimburse wireless carriers for all of their costs incurred in complying with the applicable provisions of Federal Communications Commission wireless enhanced 9-1-1 service mandates, and (ii) to pay the reasonable and necessary costs of the Illinois Commerce Commission in exercising its rights, duties, powers, and functions under this Act. This reimbursement to wireless carriers may include, but need not be limited to, the cost of designing, upgrading, purchasing, leasing, programming, installing, testing, and maintaining necessary data, hardware, and software and associated operating and administrative costs and overhead.

(b) To recover costs from the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund, the wireless carrier shall submit sworn invoices to the Illinois Commerce Commission. In no event may any invoice for payment be approved for (i) costs that are not related to compliance with the requirements established by the wireless enhanced 9-1-1 mandates of the Federal Communications Commission, or (ii) costs with respect to any wireless enhanced 9-1-1 service that is not operable at the time the invoice is submitted.

(c) If in any month the total amount of invoices submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission and approved for payment exceeds the amount available in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund, wireless carriers that have invoices approved for payment shall receive a pro-rata share of the amount available in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund based on the relative amount of their approved invoices available that month, and the balance of the payments shall be carried into the following months until all of the approved payments are made.

(d) A wireless carrier may not receive payment from the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund for its costs of providing wireless enhanced 9-1-1 services in an area when a unit of local government or emergency telephone system board provides wireless 9-1-1 services in that area and was imposing and collecting a wireless carrier surcharge prior to July 1, 1998.

(e) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall maintain detailed records of all receipts and disbursements and shall provide an annual accounting of all receipts and disbursements to the Auditor General.

(f) The Illinois Commerce Commission must annually review the balance in the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund as of June 30 of each year and shall direct the Comptroller to transfer into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution in accordance with subsection (b) of Section 30 of this Act any amount in excess of outstanding invoices as of June 30 of each year.

(g) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to govern the reimbursement process.

(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16; 100-20, eff. 7-1-17. Repealed by P.A. 103-366, eff. 1-1-24.)