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 S.B. No. 1306 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with greater flexibility in recovering and spreading the cost of providing intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) for persons with hearing and speech disabilities.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the PUC, Division of Consumer Advocacy, Disability and Communication Access Board, Aloha State Association of the Deaf, and several concerned individuals. Assistive Technology Resource Centers of Hawaii testified in support and offered amendments. Verizon Wireless commented and requested 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 currently 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 measure by replacing its contents with those of H.B. No. 1153, H.D. 1, other than the House Bill's effective date. The amended bill makes numerous technical changes to the Senate Bill and is effective upon its approval.

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 S.B. No. 1306, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1306, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.