STAND. COM. REP. 481
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: H.B. No. 1153
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1153 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to provide the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with greater flexibility in administering and providing intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) for persons with hearing and speech disabilities. Specifically, this bill amends the section of the PUC chapter of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), that controls the provision of TRS for the deaf, hearing impaired, and speech impaired, by:
(1) Allowing PUC to recover the costs of administering and providing intrastate TRS in Hawaii by:
(A) Establishing a customer surcharge; and
(B) Adopting rules to establish a cost-recovery mechanism;
(2) Making housekeeping amendments to conform terminology used in the section, as well as the definition of "telecommunications relay services", to Federal Communications Commission terminology and definitions;
(3) Repealing section 269-16.7 HRS, which requires the PUC to expedite to the greatest extent possible, any ratemaking procedures when a local exchange telecommunications services provider applies for approval of rates, charges, or fees for specialized services for the deaf, hearing impaired, or speech impaired; and
(3) Removing obsolete provisions applicable to the period beginning July 1, 1989, and ending June 30, 1992.
The PUC and the Division of Consumer Advocacy (Consumer Advocate) submitted testimony in support of this bill. An interested citizen supported the intent of the bill and suggested an amendment. AT&T Wireless testified in opposition and suggested an amendment.
Your Committee finds that TRS are telephone transmission services that allow an individual with a hearing or speech disability to communicate with a hearing individual by wire or radio in a manner functionally equivalent to that of an individual with no hearing or speech disability. These services include text telephones, speech-to-speech, video relay, and non-English relay services.
Your Committee was informed that TRS services are provided by Verizon Hawaii, Inc., and funded by an access line surcharge on Verizon customer bills. Verizon collects from two other intrastate telecommunications providers through interconnection agreements. Your Committee finds that this bill will give PUC greater flexibility in funding the TRS program by allowing PUC to more equitably spread the costs of providing TRS over a wider array of telecommunication users.
Your Committee has amended this bill by changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on this important matter.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1153, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1153, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,
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____________________________ KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair |