PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1078 PRINTER'S NO. 1829
No. 961 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY PHILLIPS, TIGUE, PETTIT, STERN, HERSHEY, GEORGE,
GEIST, HENNESSEY, FLEAGLE, SCHULER, FAIRCHILD, TRELLO, STISH,
STABACK, SATHER, ALLEN, FARGO, TRUE, RAYMOND, RUBLEY,
E. Z. TAYLOR, CLARK, MELIO, SAYLOR, MERRY, HESS, COLAIZZO,
TULLI, SEMMEL, LAUGHLIN, MILLER, BOSCOLA AND BELFANTI,
MARCH 6, 1995
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
MAY 3, 1995
AN ACT
1 Providing for dual party relay services and for
2 telecommunication device distribution.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Dual Party
7 Relay Service and Telecommunication Device Distribution Program
8 Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Center for independent living." A consumer-controlled,
14 community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential private,
15 nonprofit agency that is designed and operated within a local
1 community by people with disabilities and provides an array of
2 independent living services, as defined by the Rehabilitation
3 Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.).
4 "Commission." The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
5 "Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
6 Commonwealth.
7 "Persons with a disability" or "people with disabilities." A
8 person certified as being deaf, deaf-blind, hard-of-hearing,
9 having a hearing loss or speech impaired by a licensed
10 physician, audiologist, speech pathologist or a qualified State
11 agency.
12 "Program." The Telecommunication Device Distribution Program
13 established under this act.
14 "Telecommunication device." Equipment necessary for a person
15 with a disability to engage in communication by wire or radio
16 with another person with a disability or with a hearing
17 individual.
18 "Telecommunication relay service." Telephone transmission
19 services that provide the ability for a person with a disability
20 to engage in communication by wire or radio with a hearing
21 individual in a manner that is functionally equivalent to the
22 ability of a person who does not have a disability to
23 communicate using voice communication services by wire or radio.
24 The term includes services that enable two-way communication
25 between an individual who uses a telecommunication device or
26 other nonvoice terminal device and an individual who does not
27 use such a device.
28 Section 3. Establishment of Telecommunication Device
29 Distribution Program.
30 (a) Establishment.--The Telecommunication Device
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1 Distribution Program is hereby established. It shall be a
2 program whereby telecommunication devices for people with
3 disabilities are distributed at no charge to the distributee.
4 (b) Administration.--The executive director of the Office of
5 Vocational Rehabilitation of the department, in cooperation with
6 other State agencies which serve people with disabilities, shall
7 oversee implementation of the program. To this end, the
8 executive director may do any of the following:
9 (1) Establish criteria of eligibility in accordance with
10 subsection (c) and adopt regulations and forms consistent
11 with the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.769, No.240), referred to
12 as the Commonwealth Documents Law.
13 (2) Facilitate coordination of funds required for the
14 distribution system with selected centers for independent
15 living OR SELECTED NOT-FOR-PROFIT AGENCIES HAVING EXPERIENCE <--
16 IN SERVING PERSONS WITH HEARING OR SPEECH DISABILITIES.
17 (3) Determine, in cooperation with other State agencies,
18 the funds required for the distribution system and provide
19 information to the commission as required under section 4.
20 (c) To qualify as distributee.--Each recipient of a
21 telecommunication device shall meet the following criteria:
22 (1) Be a resident of this Commonwealth.
23 (2) Qualify as a person with a disability.
24 (3) Have telephone service, possess the ability to learn
25 how to use a telecommunication device.
26 (4) Be six years of age or older.
27 (5) Have a gross income of less than 200% of the Federal
28 poverty level as determined in accordance with the Link Up
29 America guidelines.
30 Section 4. Establishment of dual party relay service.
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1 (a) Telecommunication relay services.--The commission shall
2 design and implement a telecommunication relay service program
3 for the Commonwealth that is consistent with and meets or
4 exceeds the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act
5 of 1990 (Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327).
6 (b) Certification.--The commission is authorized to seek on
7 behalf of this Commonwealth certification of the
8 telecommunication relay service program from the Federal
9 Communications Commission.
10 (c) Additional use of surcharge.--The program shall be
11 funded by the Telecommunication Relay Service Program surcharge,
12 as calculated by the commission on an annual basis under the
13 methodology established by the commission in order entered May
14 29, 1990, and July 9, 1990, at Docket Number M900239. The
15 executive director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in
16 the department shall provide the commission with an annual
17 budget and supporting information for the purchase of
18 telecommunication devices for the program. The surcharge shall
19 not be used to fund administrative costs of the program.
20 (d) Limits on expenditures.--Expenditures for the program
21 shall not exceed collections from the Telecommunication Relay
22 Service Program surcharge.
23 (e) Annual report.--The commission shall prepare and submit
24 an annual report to the General Assembly on the program.
25 (1) The report shall include the fiscal status of the
26 program, a statement of the surcharge level established under
27 subsection (c) and the revenues produced by the surcharge, an
28 account of program expenses and the fund balance.
29 (2) The executive director of the Office of Vocational
30 Rehabilitation in the department shall provide the commission
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1 with information on the program, including the purchase and
2 distribution of telecommunication devices, for inclusion in
3 the annual report to the General Assembly.
4 (3) If the commission determines any of the information
5 is proprietary, the information shall be filed under seal and
6 made available under the terms of an appropriate protective
7 agreement of the type used in cases before the commission.
8 Section 5. Effective date.
9 This act shall take effect immediately.
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