Bill Text: FL S1202 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Prepaid Wireless Telecommunications [EPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-26 - Read 3rd time -SJ 00862; Amendment(s) adopted (703208, 348766, 254308, 143616) -SJ 00862; Substituted CS/CS/HB 163 -SJ 00862; Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 163 (Ch. 2010-50) -SJ 00862 [S1202 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S1202-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2010               CS for CS for CS for SB 1202 
        
       By the Committees on General Government Appropriations; 
       Judiciary; and Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities; and 
       Senator Bennett 
       601-05198-10                                          20101202c3 
    1                        A bill to be entitled                       
    2         An act relating to prepaid wireless 
    3         telecommunications; amending s. 365.172, F.S.; 
    4         deleting an obsolete provision relating to a study of 
    5         the feasibility of collecting a fee for prepaid 
    6         wireless service; delaying the collection of such fee; 
    7         amending s. 365.173, F.S.; revising the percentage of 
    8         total funds that a county may carry forward to pay 
    9         certain costs associated with the county’s E911 or 911 
   10         system, to contract for E911 services, and to 
   11         reimburse wireless telephone service providers for 
   12         costs incurred to provide such services; providing an 
   13         effective date. 
   14   
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
   16   
   17         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (8) of section 
   18  365.172, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
   19         365.172 Emergency communications number “E911.”— 
   20         (8) E911 FEE.— 
   21         (a) Each voice communications services provider shall 
   22  collect the fee described in this subsection. Each provider, as 
   23  part of its monthly billing process, shall bill the fee as 
   24  follows. The fee shall not be assessed on any pay telephone in 
   25  the state. 
   26         1. Each local exchange carrier shall bill the fee to the 
   27  local exchange subscribers on a service-identifier basis, up to 
   28  a maximum of 25 access lines per account bill rendered. 
   29         2. Except in the case of prepaid wireless service, each 
   30  wireless provider shall bill the fee to a subscriber on a per 
   31  service-identifier basis for service identifiers whose primary 
   32  place of use is within this state. Before July 1, 2013 2009, the 
   33  fee shall not be assessed on or collected from a provider with 
   34  respect to an end user’s service if that end user’s service is a 
   35  prepaid calling arrangement that is subject to s. 212.05(1)(e). 
   36         a. An E911 fee on the sale of prepaid wireless service may 
   37  not be collected before July 1, 2013. The board shall conduct a 
   38  study to determine whether it is feasible to collect E911 fees 
   39  from the sale of prepaid wireless service. If, based on the 
   40  findings of the study, the board determines that a fee should 
   41  not be collected from the sale of prepaid wireless service, it 
   42  shall report its findings and recommendation to the Governor, 
   43  the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 
   44  Representatives by December 31, 2008. If the board determines 
   45  that a fee should be collected from the sale of prepaid wireless 
   46  service, the board shall collect the fee beginning July 1, 2009. 
   47         b. For purposes of this section, the term: 
   48         (I) “Prepaid wireless service” means the right to access 
   49  telecommunications services that must be paid for in advance and 
   50  is sold in predetermined units or dollars enabling the 
   51  originator to make calls such that the number of units or 
   52  dollars declines with use in a known amount. 
   53         (II) “Prepaid wireless service providers” includes those 
   54  persons who sell prepaid wireless service regardless of its 
   55  form, either as a retailer or reseller. 
   56         c. The study must include an evaluation of methods by which 
   57  E911 fees may be collected from end users and purchasers of 
   58  prepaid wireless service on an equitable, efficient, 
   59  competitively neutral, and nondiscriminatory basis and must 
   60  consider whether the collection of fees on prepaid wireless 
   61  service would constitute an efficient use of public funds given 
   62  the technological and practical considerations of collecting the 
   63  fee based on the varying methodologies prepaid wireless service 
   64  providers and their agents use in marketing prepaid wireless 
   65  service. 
   66         d. The study must include a review and evaluation of the 
   67  collection of E911 fees on prepaid wireless service at the point 
   68  of sale within the state. This evaluation must be consistent 
   69  with the collection principles of end user charges such as those 
   70  in s. 212.05(1)(e). 
   71         e. No later than 90 days after this section becomes law, 
   72  the board shall require all prepaid wireless service providers, 
   73  including resellers, to provide the board with information that 
   74  the board determines is necessary to discharge its duties under 
   75  this section, including information necessary for its 
   76  recommendation, such as total retail and reseller prepaid 
   77  wireless service sales. 
   78         f. All subscriber information provided by a prepaid 
   79  wireless service provider in response to a request from the 
   80  board while conducting this study is subject to s. 365.174. 
   81         g. The study shall be conducted by an entity competent and 
   82  knowledgeable in matters of state taxation policy if the board 
   83  does not possess that expertise. The study must be paid from the 
   84  moneys distributed to the board for administrative purposes 
   85  under s. 365.173(2)(f) but may not exceed $250,000. 
   86         3. All voice communications services providers not 
   87  addressed under subparagraphs 1. and 2. shall bill the fee on a 
   88  per-service-identifier basis for service identifiers whose 
   89  primary place of use is within the state up to a maximum of 25 
   90  service identifiers for each account bill rendered. 
   91   
   92  The provider may list the fee as a separate entry on each bill, 
   93  in which case the fee must be identified as a fee for E911 
   94  services. A provider shall remit the fee to the board only if 
   95  the fee is paid by the subscriber. If a provider receives a 
   96  partial payment for a monthly bill from a subscriber, the amount 
   97  received shall first be applied to the payment due the provider 
   98  for providing voice communications service. 
   99         Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 
  100  365.173, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
  101         365.173 Emergency Communications Number E911 System Fund.— 
  102         (2) As determined by the board pursuant to s. 
  103  365.172(8)(h), and subject to any modifications approved by the 
  104  board pursuant to s. 365.172(6)(a)3. or (8)(i), the moneys in 
  105  the fund shall be distributed and used only as follows: 
  106         (c) Any county that receives funds under paragraphs (a) and 
  107  (b) shall establish a fund to be used exclusively for the 
  108  receipt and expenditure of the revenues collected under 
  109  paragraphs (a) and (b). All fees placed in the fund and any 
  110  interest accrued shall be used solely for costs described in 
  111  subparagraphs (a)1. and 2. The money collected and interest 
  112  earned in this fund shall be appropriated for these purposes by 
  113  the county commissioners and incorporated into the annual county 
  114  budget. The fund shall be included within the financial audit 
  115  performed in accordance with s. 218.39. A county may carry 
  116  forward up to 30 20 percent of the total funds disbursed to the 
  117  county by the board during a calendar year for expenditures for 
  118  capital outlay, capital improvements, or equipment replacement, 
  119  if such expenditures are made for the purposes specified in 
  120  subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.; however, the 30 percent 20-percent 
  121  limitation does not apply to funds disbursed to a county under 
  122  s. 365.172(6)(a)3., and a county may carry forward any 
  123  percentage of the funds, except that any grant provided shall 
  124  continue to be subject to any condition imposed by the board. In 
  125  order to prevent an excess recovery of costs incurred in 
  126  providing E911 service, a county that receives funds greater 
  127  than the permissible E911 costs described in s. 365.172(9), 
  128  including the 30 20 percent carryforward allowance, must return 
  129  the excess funds to the E911 board to be allocated under s. 
  130  365.172(6)(a). 
  131   
  132  The Legislature recognizes that the fee authorized under s. 
  133  365.172 may not necessarily provide the total funding required 
  134  for establishing or providing the E911 service. It is the intent 
  135  of the Legislature that all revenue from the fee be used as 
  136  specified in this subsection. 
  137         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.