HB0828sam002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. William R. Haine

Filed: 5/23/2007

09500HB0828sam002 LRB095 04952 HLH 36877 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 828

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 828 on page 4, below line 24, by inserting the following:

"Section 10. The Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act is amended by changing Sections 15, 17, 25, 35, and 70 as follows:

(50 ILCS 751/15)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)

Sec. 15. Wireless emergency 9-1-1 service. The digits "9-1-1" shall be the designated emergency telephone number within the wireless system.

(a) Standards. The Illinois Commerce Commission may set non-discriminatory, uniform technical and operational standards consistent with the rules of the Federal Communications Commission for directing calls to authorized public safety answering points. These standards shall not in any way prescribe the technology or manner a wireless carrier shall use to deliver wireless 9-1-1 or wireless E9-1-1 calls and these standards shall not exceed the requirements set by the Federal Communications Commission. However, standards for directing calls to the authorized public safety answering point shall be included. The authority given to the Illinois Commerce Commission in this Section is limited to setting standards as set forth herein and does not constitute authority to regulate wireless carriers.

(b) Wireless public safety answering points. For the purpose of providing wireless 9-1-1 emergency services, an emergency telephone system board or, in the absence of an emergency telephone system board, a qualified governmental entity may declare its intention for one or more of its public safety answering points to serve as a primary wireless 9-1-1 public safety answering point for its jurisdiction by notifying the Chief Clerk of the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Director of State Police in writing within 6 months after the effective date of this Act or within 6 months after receiving its authority to operate a 9-1-1 system under the Emergency Telephone System Act, whichever is later. In addition, 2 or more emergency telephone system boards or qualified units of local government may, by virtue of an intergovernmental agreement, provide wireless 9-1-1 service. The Department of State Police shall be the primary wireless 9-1-1 public safety answering point for any jurisdiction not providing notice to the Commission and the Department of State Police. Nothing in this Act shall require the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 services.

The Illinois Commerce Commission, upon a joint request from the Department of State Police and a qualified governmental entity or an emergency telephone system board, may grant authority to the emergency telephone system board or a qualified governmental entity to provide wireless 9-1-1 service in areas for which the Department of State Police has accepted wireless 9-1-1 responsibility. The Illinois Commerce Commission shall maintain a current list of all 9-1-1 systems and qualified governmental entities providing wireless 9-1-1 service under this Act.

Any emergency telephone system board or qualified governmental entity providing wireless 9-1-1 service prior to the effective date of this Act may continue to operate upon notification as previously described in this Section. An emergency telephone system board or a qualified governmental entity shall submit, with its notification, the date upon which it commenced operating.

(c) Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board. The Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board is created. The Board consists of 7 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. It is recommended that the Governor appoint members from the following: the Illinois Chapter of the National Emergency Numbers Association, the Illinois State Police, law enforcement agencies, the wireless telecommunications industry, an emergency telephone system board in Cook County (outside the City of Chicago), an emergency telephone system board in the Metro-east area, and an emergency telephone system board in the collar counties (Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, and Will counties). Members of the Board may not receive any compensation but may, however, be reimbursed for any necessary expenditure in connection with their duties.

Except as provided in Section 45, the Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board shall set the amount of the monthly wireless surcharge required to be imposed under Section 17 on all wireless subscribers in this State. Prior to the Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board setting any surcharge, the Board shall publish the proposed surcharge in the Illinois Register, hold hearings on the surcharge and the requirements for an efficient wireless emergency number system, and elicit public comment. The Board shall determine the minimum cost necessary for implementation of this system and the amount of revenue produced based upon the number of wireless telephones in use. The Board shall set the surcharge at the minimum amount necessary to achieve the goals of the Act and shall, by July 1, 2000, file this information with the Governor, the Clerk of the House, and the Secretary of the Senate. The surcharge may not be more than $0.75 per month per CMRS connection.

The Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board shall report to the General Assembly by July 1, 2000 on implementing wireless non-emergency services for the purpose of public safety using the digits 3-1-1. The Board shall consider the delivery of 3-1-1 services in a 6 county area, including rural Cook County (outside of the City of Chicago), and DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Kane Counties, as well as counties outside of this area by an emergency telephone system board, a qualified governmental entity, or private industry. The Board, upon completion of all its duties required under this Act, is dissolved.

(Source: P.A. 91-660, eff. 12-22-99.)

(50 ILCS 751/17)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)

Sec. 17. Wireless carrier surcharge.

(a) Except as provided in Section 45, each wireless carrier shall impose a monthly wireless carrier surcharge per CMRS connection that either has a telephone number within an area code assigned to Illinois by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator or has a billing address in this State. In the case of prepaid wireless telephone service, this surcharge shall be remitted based upon the address associated with the point of purchase, the customer billing address, or the location associated with the MTN for each active prepaid wireless telephone that has a sufficient positive balance as of the last day of each month, if that information is available. No wireless carrier shall impose the surcharge authorized by this Section upon any subscriber who is subject to the surcharge imposed by a unit of local government pursuant to Section 45. Prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the surcharge amount shall be the amount set by the Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board. Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the monthly surcharge imposed under this Section shall be $0.73 per CMRS connection. The wireless carrier that provides wireless service to the subscriber shall collect the surcharge set by the Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board from the subscriber. For mobile telecommunications services provided on and after August 1, 2002, any surcharge imposed under this Act shall be imposed based upon the municipality or county that encompasses the customer's place of primary use as defined in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act. The surcharge shall be stated as a separate item on the subscriber's monthly bill. The wireless carrier shall begin collecting the surcharge on bills issued within 90 days after the Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board sets the monthly wireless surcharge. State and local taxes shall not apply to the wireless carrier surcharge.

(b) Except as provided in Section 45, a wireless carrier shall, within 45 days of collection, remit, either by check or by electronic funds transfer, to the State Treasurer the amount of the wireless carrier surcharge collected from each subscriber. Of the amounts remitted under this subsection prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, and for surcharges imposed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly but remitted after its effective date, the State Treasurer shall deposit one-third into the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund and two-thirds into the Wireless Service Emergency Fund. For surcharges collected and remitted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, $0.1475 per surcharge collected shall be deposited into the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund, and $0.5825 per surcharge collected shall be deposited into the Wireless Service Emergency Fund. Of the amounts deposited into the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund under this subsection, $0.01 per surcharge collected may be distributed to the carriers to cover their administrative costs. Of the amounts deposited into the Wireless Service Emergency Fund under this subsection, $0.01 per surcharge collected may be disbursed to the Illinois Commerce Commission to cover its administrative costs.

(c) The first such remittance by wireless carriers shall include the number of customers by zip code, and the 9-digit zip code if currently being used or later implemented by the carrier, that shall be the means by which the Illinois Commerce Commission shall determine distributions from the Wireless Service Emergency Fund. This information shall be updated no less often than every year. Wireless carriers are not required to remit surcharge moneys that are billed to subscribers but not yet collected.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, nothing shall impair the right of wireless carriers to recover compliance costs for all emergency communications services directly from their customers via line-item charges on the customer's bill. Those compliance costs include all costs incurred by wireless carriers in complying with local, State, and federal regulatory or legislative mandates that require the transmission and receipt of emergency communications to and from the general public, including, but not limited to, E-911.

(e) The Auditor General shall conduct, on an annual basis, an audit of the Wireless Service Emergency Fund and the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund for compliance with the requirements of this Act. The audit shall include, but not be limited to, the following determinations:

(1) Whether the Commission is maintaining detailed records of all receipts and disbursements from the Wireless Carrier Emergency Fund and the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund.

(2) Whether the Commission's administrative costs charged to the funds are adequately documented and are reasonable.

(3) Whether the Commission's procedures for making grants and providing reimbursements in accordance with the Act are adequate.

(4) The status of the implementation of wireless 9-1-1 and E9-1-1 services in Illinois.

The Commission, the Department of State Police, and any other entity or person that may have information relevant to the audit shall cooperate fully and promptly with the Office of the Auditor General in conducting the audit. The Auditor General shall commence the audit as soon as possible and distribute the report upon completion in accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.

(Source: P.A. 92-526, eff. 7-1-02; 93-507, eff. 1-1-04; 93-839, eff. 7-30-04.)

(50 ILCS 751/25)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)

Sec. 25. Wireless Service Emergency Fund; distribution of moneys. Within 60 days after the effective date of this Act, wireless carriers shall submit to the Illinois Commerce Commission the number of wireless subscribers by zip code and the 9-digit zip code of the wireless subscribers, if currently being used or later implemented by the carrier.

The Illinois Commerce Commission shall, subject to appropriation, make monthly proportional grants to the appropriate emergency telephone system board or qualified governmental entity based upon the United States Postal Zip Code of the wireless subscriber's billing address. No matching funds shall be required from grant recipients.

If the Illinois Commerce Commission is notified of an area of overlapping jurisdiction, grants for that area shall be made based upon reference to an official Master Street Address Guide to the emergency telephone system board or qualified governmental entity whose public service answering points provide wireless 9-1-1 service in that area. The emergency telephone system board or qualified governmental entity shall provide the Illinois Commerce Commission with a valid copy of the appropriate Master Street Address Guide. The Illinois Commerce Commission does not have a duty to verify jurisdictional responsibility.

In the event of a subscriber billing address being matched to an incorrect jurisdiction by the Illinois Commerce Commission, the recipient, upon notification from the Illinois Commerce Commission, shall redirect the funds to the correct jurisdiction. The Illinois Commerce Commission shall not be held liable for any damages relating to an act or omission under this Act, unless the act or omission constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.

In the event of a dispute between emergency telephone system boards or qualified governmental entities concerning a subscriber billing address, the Illinois Commerce Commission shall resolve the dispute.

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.

The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to govern the grant process.

The Illinois Commerce Commission may also use moneys in the Wireless Service Emergency Fund to make grants to the Illinois National Emergency Number Association for the purpose of conducting a study to determine the future technological and financial needs of the wireless 9-1-1 systems. The study shall include input from the telecommunications industry and the public safety community.

(Source: P.A. 93-839, eff. 7-30-04.)

(50 ILCS 751/35)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)

Sec. 35. Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund; reimbursement. 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, (ii) costs with respect to any wireless enhanced 9-1-1 service that is not operable at the time the invoice is submitted, or (iii) costs of any wireless carrier exceeding 100% of the wireless emergency services charges remitted to the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund by the wireless carrier under Section 17(b) unless the wireless carrier received prior approval for the expenditures from the Illinois Commerce Commission.

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.

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.

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.

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

Upon the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, or as soon thereafter as practical, the State Comptroller shall order transferred and the State Treasurer shall transfer the sum of $8,000,000 from the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund to the Wireless Service Emergency Fund. That amount shall be used by the Illinois Commerce Commission to make grants in the manner described in Section 25 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-507, eff. 1-1-04; 93-839, eff. 7-30-04.)

(50 ILCS 751/70)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on April 1, 2008)

Sec. 70. Repealer. This Act is repealed on April 1, 2013 2008.

(Source: P.A. 93-507, eff. 1-1-04.)".