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91_HB0287ccr001
LRB9101576JSpcccr4
1 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
2 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT
3 ON HOUSE BILL 287
4 -------------------------------------------------------------
5 -------------------------------------------------------------
6 To the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
7 House of Representatives:
8 We, the conference committee appointed to consider the
9 differences between the houses in relation to Senate
10 Amendment No. 1 to House Bill 287, recommend the following:
11 (1) that the Senate recede from Senate Amendment 1; and
12 (2) that House Bill 287 be amended by replacing the title
13 with the following:
14 "AN ACT to amend the Public Utilities Act by changing
15 Section 13-301."; and
16 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
17 following:
18 "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
19 change section 13-301 as follows:
20 (220 ILCS 5/13-301) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-301)
21 (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2001)
22 Sec. 13-301. Consistent with the findings and policy
23 established in paragraph (a) of Section 13-102 and paragraph
24 (a) of Section 13-103, and in order to ensure the attainment
25 of such policies, the Commission shall:
26 (a) participate in all federal programs intended to
27 preserve or extend universal telecommunications service,
28 unless such programs would place cost burdens on Illinois
29 customers of telecommunications services in excess of the
30 benefits they would receive through participation, provided,
31 however, the Commission shall not approve or permit the
32 imposition of any surcharge or other fee designed to
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1 subsidize or provide a waiver for subscriber line charges;
2 and shall report on such programs together with an assessment
3 of their adequacy and the advisability of participating
4 therein in its annual report to the General Assembly, or more
5 often as necessary;
6 (b) establish a program to monitor the level of
7 telecommunications subscriber connection within each exchange
8 in Illinois, and shall report the results of such monitoring
9 and any actions it has taken or recommends be taken to
10 maintain and increase such levels in its annual report to the
11 General Assembly, or more often if necessary;
12 (c) order all telecommunications carriers offering or
13 providing local exchange telecommunications service to
14 propose low-cost or budget service tariffs and any other rate
15 design or pricing mechanisms designed to facilitate customer
16 access to such telecommunications service, and shall after
17 notice and hearing, implement any such proposals which it
18 finds likely to achieve such purpose;
19 (d) investigate the necessity of and, if appropriate,
20 establish feasibility of establishing a universal service
21 support fund from which local exchange telecommunications
22 carriers who pursuant to the Twenty-Seventh Interim Order of
23 the Commission in Docket No. 83-0142 or the orders of the
24 Commission in Docket No. 97-0621 and Docket No. 98-0679
25 received funding and offering or providing local exchange
26 telecommunications service, whose economic costs of providing
27 services for which universal service support may be made
28 available such service exceed the affordable rate established
29 by the Commission for such services may be eligible to
30 average cost of providing such service in Illinois, could
31 receive support, less any federal universal service support
32 received for the same or similar costs of providing the
33 supported services; provided, however, that if a universal
34 service support fund is established, the Commission shall
35 require that all costs of the fund be recovered from all
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1 local exchange and interexchange telecommunications carriers
2 certificated in Illinois on a competitively neutral and
3 nondiscriminatory basis. In establishing any such universal
4 service support fund, the Commission shall, in addition to
5 the determination of costs for supported services, consider
6 and make findings pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of
7 item (e) of this Section. Proxy cost, as determined by the
8 Commission, may be used for this purpose. In determining
9 cost recovery for any universal service support fund, the
10 Commission shall not permit recovery of such costs from
11 another certificated carrier for any service purchased and
12 used solely as an input to a service provided to such
13 certificated carrier's retail customers revenues intended to
14 mitigate the price impact on customers resulting from the
15 high or rising cost of such service; and shall include the
16 results and findings of such investigation together with any
17 recommendations for legislative action in its first annual
18 report to the General Assembly in 1986; and
19 (e) investigate the necessity of and, if appropriate,
20 establish a universal service support fund in addition to any
21 fund that may be established pursuant to item (d) of this
22 Section; provided, however, that if a telecommunications
23 carrier receives universal service support pursuant to item
24 (d) of this Section, that telecommunications carrier shall
25 not receive universal service support pursuant to this item.
26 Recipients of any universal service support funding created
27 by this item shall be "eligible" telecommunications carriers,
28 as designated by the Commission in accordance with 47 U.S.C.
29 214(e)(2). Eligible telecommunications carriers providing
30 local exchange telecommunications service may be eligible to
31 receive support for such services, less any federal universal
32 service support received for the same or similar costs of
33 providing the supported services. If a fund is established,
34 the Commission shall require that the costs of such fund be
35 recovered from all telecommunications carriers, with the
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1 exception of wireless carriers who are providers of two-way
2 cellular telecommunications service and who have not been
3 designated as eligible telecommunications carriers, on a
4 competitively neutral and non-discriminatory basis. In any
5 order creating a fund pursuant to this item, the Commission,
6 after notice and hearing, shall:
7 (1) Define the group of services to be declared
8 "supported telecommunications services" that constitute
9 "universal service". This group of services shall, at a
10 minimum, include those services as defined by the Federal
11 Communications Commission and as from time to time
12 amended. In addition, the Commission shall consider the
13 range of services currently offered by telecommunications
14 carriers offering local exchange telecommunications
15 service, the existing rate structures for the supported
16 telecommunications services, and the telecommunications
17 needs of Illinois consumers in determining the supported
18 telecommunications services. The Commission shall, from
19 time to time or upon request, review and, if appropriate,
20 revise the group of Illinois supported telecommunications
21 services and the terms of the fund to reflect changes or
22 enhancements in telecommunications needs, technologies,
23 and available services.
24 (2) Identify all implicit subsidies contained in
25 rates or charges of incumbent local exchange carriers,
26 including all subsidies in interexchange access charges,
27 and determine how such subsidies can be made explicit by
28 the creation of the fund.
29 (3) Identify the incumbent local exchange carriers'
30 economic costs of providing the supported
31 telecommunications services.
32 (4) Establish an affordable price for the supported
33 telecommunications services for the respective incumbent
34 local exchange carrier. The affordable price shall be no
35 less than the rates in effect at the time the Commission
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1 creates a fund pursuant to this item. The Commission may
2 establish and utilize indices or models for updating the
3 affordable price for supported telecommunications
4 services.
5 (5) Identify the telecommunications carriers from
6 whom the costs of the fund shall be recovered and the
7 mechanism to be used to determine and establish a
8 competitively neutral and non-discriminatory funding
9 basis. From time to time, or upon request, the
10 Commission shall consider whether, based upon changes in
11 technology or other factors, additional
12 telecommunications providers should contribute to the
13 fund. The Commission shall establish the basis upon
14 which telecommunications carriers contributing to the
15 fund shall recover contributions on a competitively
16 neutral and non-discriminatory basis. In determining
17 cost recovery for any universal support fund, the
18 Commission shall not permit recovery of such costs from
19 another certificated carrier for any service purchased
20 and used solely as an input to a service provided to such
21 certificated carriers' retail customers.
22 (6) Approve a plan for the administration and
23 operation of the fund by a neutral third party consistent
24 with the requirements of this item.
25 No fund shall be created pursuant to this item until
26 existing implicit subsidies, including, but not limited to,
27 those subsidies contained in interexchange access charges,
28 have been identified and eliminated through revisions to
29 rates or charges. Prior to May 1, 2000, such revisions to
30 rates or charges to eliminate implicit subsidies shall occur
31 contemporaneously with any funding established pursuant to
32 this item. However, if the Commission does not establish a
33 universal service support fund by May 1, 2000, the Commission
34 shall not be prevented from entering an order or taking other
35 actions to reduce or eliminate existing subsidies as well as
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1 considering the effect of such reduction or elimination on
2 local exchange carriers.
3 (e) Any telecommunications carrier providing local
4 exchange telecommunications service which offers to its local
5 exchange customers a choice of two or more local exchange
6 telecommunications service offerings shall provide, to any
7 such customer requesting it, once a year without charge, a
8 report describing which local exchange telecommunications
9 service offering would result in the lowest bill for such
10 customer's local exchange service, based on such customer's
11 calling pattern and usage for the previous 6 months. At
12 least once a year, each such carrier shall provide a notice
13 to each of its local exchange telecommunications service
14 customers describing the availability of this report and the
15 specific procedures by which customers may receive it. Such
16 report shall only be available to current and future
17 customers who have received at least 6 months of continuous
18 local exchange service from such carrier.
19 (Source: P.A. 87-445.)
20 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21 becoming law."
22 Submitted on May 27, 1999
23 s/Sen. Laura Kent Donahue s/Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
24 Sen. William Mahar s/Rep. Frank Mautino
25 s/Sen. John Maitland s/Rep. Gary Hannig
26 s/Sen. Evelyn Bowles s/Rep. Art Tenhouse
27 Sen. William Shaw s/Rep. Mike Bost
28 Committee for the Senate Committee for the House