PRINTER'S NO. 271
No. 238 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY J. L. WRIGHT, KUKOVICH, RYBAK, NAHILL, BOOK, ARTY,
ALDERETTE, BURNS, McINTYRE AND REINARD, FEBRUARY 16, 1983
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FEBRUARY 16, 1983
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, providing for certain needs of the
3 deaf or severely hearing impaired.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 66 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 1510. Servicing needs of deaf or severely hearing impaired.
9 The commission shall implement a program whereby each
10 telephone utility shall provide a telecommunications device
11 capable of servicing the needs of the deaf or severely hearing
12 impaired, together with a single party line, to any subscriber
13 who is certified as deaf or severely hearing impaired by a
14 licensed physician or audiologist or a qualified Commonwealth
15 agency. The commission shall establish a sliding fee scale for
16 the rental of the devices based on the income of the deaf or
17 severely hearing impaired person. Deaf or severely hearing
18 impaired persons having an annual household income of less than
1 $9,000 shall be provided with a device at no charge. The
2 commission shall establish a rate recovery mechanism to allow
3 telephone utilities to recover any costs incurred under this
4 section which are not recovered through the sliding fee scale.
5 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
A19L66DGS/19830H0238B0271 - 2 -