Public Act 099-0847
 
SB0462 EnrolledLRB099 03214 HAF 23222 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
Section 13-703 as follows:
 
    (220 ILCS 5/13-703)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-703)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)
    Sec. 13-703. (a) The Commission shall design and implement
a program whereby each telecommunications carrier providing
local exchange service shall provide a telecommunications
device capable of servicing the needs of those persons with a
hearing or speech disability together with a single party line,
at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any
subscriber who is certified as having a hearing or speech
disability by a hearing care professional, as defined in the
Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act licensed physician,
speech-language pathologist, audiologist or a qualified State
agency and to any subscriber which is an organization serving
the needs of those persons with a hearing or speech disability
as determined and specified by the Commission pursuant to
subsection (d).
    (b) The Commission shall design and implement a program,
whereby each telecommunications carrier providing local
exchange service shall provide a telecommunications relay
system, using third party intervention to connect those persons
having a hearing or speech disability with persons of normal
hearing by way of intercommunications devices and the telephone
system, making available reasonable access to all phases of
public telephone service to persons who have a hearing or
speech disability. In order to design a telecommunications
relay system which will meet the requirements of those persons
with a hearing or speech disability available at a reasonable
cost, the Commission shall initiate an investigation and
conduct public hearings to determine the most cost-effective
method of providing telecommunications relay service to those
persons who have a hearing or speech disability when using
telecommunications devices and therein solicit the advice,
counsel, and physical assistance of Statewide nonprofit
consumer organizations that serve persons with hearing or
speech disabilities in such hearings and during the development
and implementation of the system. The Commission shall phase in
this program, on a geographical basis, as soon as is
practicable, but no later than June 30, 1990.
    (c) The Commission shall establish a competitively neutral
rate recovery mechanism that establishes charges in an amount
to be determined by the Commission for each line of a
subscriber to allow telecommunications carriers providing
local exchange service to recover costs as they are incurred
under this Section. Beginning no later than April 1, 2016, and
on a yearly basis thereafter, the Commission shall initiate a
proceeding to establish the competitively neutral amount to be
charged or assessed to subscribers of telecommunications
carriers and wireless carriers, Interconnected VoIP service
providers, and consumers of prepaid wireless
telecommunications service in a manner consistent with this
subsection (c) and subsection (f) of this Section. The
Commission shall issue its order establishing the
competitively neutral amount to be charged or assessed to
subscribers of telecommunications carriers and wireless
carriers, Interconnected VoIP service providers, and
purchasers of prepaid wireless telecommunications service on
or prior to June 1 of each year, and such amount shall take
effect June 1 of each year.
    Telecommunications carriers, wireless carriers,
Interconnected VoIP service providers, and sellers of prepaid
wireless telecommunications service shall have 60 days from the
date the Commission files its order to implement the new rate
established by the order.
    (d) The Commission shall determine and specify those
organizations serving the needs of those persons having a
hearing or speech disability that shall receive a
telecommunications device and in which offices the equipment
shall be installed in the case of an organization having more
than one office. For the purposes of this Section,
"organizations serving the needs of those persons with hearing
or speech disabilities" means centers for independent living as
described in Section 12a of the Rehabilitation of Persons with
Disabilities Act and not-for-profit organizations whose
primary purpose is serving the needs of those persons with
hearing or speech disabilities. The Commission shall direct the
telecommunications carriers subject to its jurisdiction and
this Section to comply with its determinations and
specifications in this regard.
    (e) As used in this Section:
    "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service" has the
meaning given to that term under Section 10 of the Prepaid
Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act.
    "Retail transaction" has the meaning given to that term
under Section 10 of the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act.
    "Seller" has the meaning given to that term under Section
10 of the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act.
    "Telecommunications carrier providing local exchange
service" includes, without otherwise limiting the meaning of
the term, telecommunications carriers which are purely mutual
concerns, having no rates or charges for services, but paying
the operating expenses by assessment upon the members of such a
company and no other person.
    "Wireless carrier" has the meaning given to that term under
Section 10 of the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act.
    (f) Interconnected VoIP service providers, sellers of
prepaid wireless telecommunications service, and wireless
carriers in Illinois shall collect and remit assessments
determined in accordance with this Section in a competitively
neutral manner in the same manner as a telecommunications
carrier providing local exchange service. However, the
assessment imposed on consumers of prepaid wireless
telecommunications service shall be collected by the seller
from the consumer and imposed per retail transaction as a
percentage of that retail transaction on all retail
transactions occurring in this State. The assessment on
subscribers of wireless carriers and consumers of prepaid
wireless telecommunications service shall not be imposed or
collected prior to June 1, 2016.
    Sellers of prepaid wireless telecommunications service
shall remit the assessments to the Department of Revenue on the
same form and in the same manner which they remit the fee
collected under the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act. For
the purposes of display on the consumers' receipts, the rates
of the fee collected under the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge
Act and the assessment under this Section may be combined. In
administration and enforcement of this Section, the provisions
of Sections 15 and 20 of the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge
Act (except subsections (a), (a-5), (b-5), (e), and (e-5) of
Section 15 and subsections (c) and (e) of Section 20 of the
Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act and, from June 29, 2015
(the effective date of Public Act 99-6) this amendatory Act of
the 99th General Assembly, the seller shall be permitted to
deduct and retain 3% of the assessments that are collected by
the seller from consumers and that are remitted and timely
filed with the Department) that are not inconsistent with this
Section, shall apply, as far as practicable, to the subject
matter of this Section to the same extent as if those
provisions were included in this Section. The Department shall
deposit all assessments and penalties collected under this
Section into the Illinois Telecommunications Access
Corporation Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury.
On or before the 25th day of each calendar month, the
Department shall prepare and certify to the Comptroller the
amount available to the Commission for distribution out of the
Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation Fund. The
amount certified shall be the amount (not including credit
memoranda) collected during the second preceding calendar
month by the Department, plus an amount the Department
determines is necessary to offset any amounts which were
erroneously paid to a different taxing body or fund. The amount
paid to the Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation
Fund shall not include any amount equal to the amount of
refunds made during the second preceding calendar month by the
Department to retailers under this Section or any amount that
the Department determines is necessary to offset any amounts
which were payable to a different taxing body or fund but were
erroneously paid to the Illinois Telecommunications Access
Corporation Fund. The Commission shall distribute all the funds
to the Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation and the
funds may only be used in accordance with the provisions of
this Section. The Department shall deduct 2% of all amounts
deposited in the Illinois Telecommunications Access
Corporation Fund during every year of remitted assessments. Of
the 2% deducted by the Department, one-half shall be
transferred into the Tax Compliance and Administration Fund to
reimburse the Department for its direct costs of administering
the collection and remittance of the assessment. The remaining
one-half shall be transferred into the Public Utilities Fund to
reimburse the Commission for its costs of distributing to the
Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation the amount
certified by the Department for distribution. The amount to be
charged or assessed under subsections (c) and (f) is not
imposed on a provider or the consumer for wireless Lifeline
service where the consumer does not pay the provider for the
service. Where the consumer purchases from the provider
optional minutes, texts, or other services in addition to the
federally funded Lifeline benefit, a consumer must pay the
charge or assessment, and it must be collected by the seller
according to subsection (f).
    Interconnected VoIP services shall not be considered an
intrastate telecommunications service for the purposes of this
Section in a manner inconsistent with federal law or Federal
Communications Commission regulation.
    (g) The provisions of this Section are severable under
Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
    (h) The Commission may adopt rules necessary to implement
this Section.
(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 6-29-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; revised
10-21-15.)
 
    Section 10. The Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act
is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 50/8)  (from Ch. 111, par. 7408)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)
    Sec. 8. Applicant qualifications; examination.
    (a) In order to protect persons who are deaf or hard of
hearing, the Department shall authorize or shall conduct an
appropriate examination, which may be the International
Hearing Society's licensure examination, for persons who
dispense, test, select, recommend, fit, or service hearing
instruments. The frequency of holding these examinations shall
be determined by the Department by rule. Those who successfully
pass such an examination shall be issued a license as a hearing
instrument dispenser, which shall be effective for a 2-year
period.
    (b) Applicants shall be:
        (1) at least 18 years of age;
        (2) of good moral character;
        (3) the holder of an associate's degree or the
    equivalent;
        (4) free of contagious or infectious disease; and
        (5) a citizen or person who has the status as a legal
    alien.
    Felony convictions of the applicant and findings against
the applicant involving matters set forth in Sections 17 and 18
shall be considered in determining moral character, but such a
conviction or finding shall not make an applicant ineligible to
register for examination.
    (c) Prior to engaging in the practice of fitting,
dispensing, or servicing hearing instruments, an applicant
shall demonstrate, by means of written and practical
examinations, that such person is qualified to practice the
testing, selecting, recommending, fitting, selling, or
servicing of hearing instruments as defined in this Act. An
applicant must obtain a license within 12 months after passing
either the written or practical examination, whichever is
passed first, or must take and pass those examinations again in
order to be eligible to receive a license.
    The Department shall, by rule, determine the conditions
under which an individual is examined.
    (d) Proof of having met the minimum requirements of
continuing education as determined by the Board shall be
required of all license renewals. Pursuant to rule, the
continuing education requirements may, upon petition to the
Board, be waived in whole or in part if the hearing instrument
dispenser can demonstrate that he or she served in the Coast
Guard or Armed Forces, had an extreme hardship, or obtained his
or her license by examination or endorsement within the
preceding renewal period.
    (e) Persons applying for an initial license must
demonstrate having earned, at a minimum, an associate degree or
its equivalent from an accredited institution of higher
education that is recognized by the U.S. Department of
Education or that meets the U.S. Department of Education
equivalency as determined through a National Association of
Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) member, and meet the
other requirements of this Section. In addition, the applicant
must demonstrate the successful completion of (1) 12 semester
hours or 18 quarter hours of academic undergraduate course work
in an accredited institution consisting of 3 semester hours of
anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism, 3
semester hours of hearing science, 3 semester hours of
introduction to audiology, and 3 semester hours of aural
rehabilitation, or the quarter hour equivalent or (2) an
equivalent program as determined by the Department that is
consistent with the scope of practice of a hearing instrument
dispenser as defined in Section 3 of this Act. Persons licensed
before January 1, 2003 who have a valid license on that date
may have their license renewed without meeting the requirements
of this subsection.
(Source: P.A. 98-827, eff. 1-1-15; 99-204, eff. 7-30-15.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.