SB 80-TELECOMMUNICATIONS: DISABLED SUBSCRIBERS   [Mentions HB 202] 3:17:57 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the first order of business would be SENATE BILL NO. 80, "An Act relating to telecommunications services for certain disabled subscribers; and providing for an effective date." 3:18:12 PM SENATOR MIA COSTELLO, Alaska State Legislature, presented SB 80 as prime sponsor. She explained she had learned from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) about the need to update state statutes to better help the hearing-impaired community. 3:19:07 PM JOSHUA WALTON, Staff, Senator Mia Costello, Alaska State Legislature, presented SB 80 on behalf of Senator Costello, prime sponsor. He relayed that in 1990 the legislature had authorized the RCA to adopt a surcharge on a per line basis to telephone subscribers. He said it was a nominal charge of .01 cent for the purpose of funding subscribers that are hard of hearing or deaf. The surcharge applied only to landlines. He added the challenge is that technology has changed over the past 30 years and the number of land lines has dropped sharply. More people are subscribing to cell phones and internet services and as a result, the RCA has had to increase the amount of the surcharge. He said the proposed legislation would change the language from telephone to telecommunications to provide more flexibility. He said the surcharge would be reduced significantly to between .04 cent or .05 cent per line. 3:23:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked whether the use of texting for the hearing impaired had been investigated. MR. WALTON said he thinks that hard of hearing people would use texts. The proposed bill would make technologies available. He pointed out that the people who need the technologies need them in connection with their VOIP or videoconference equipment. He stated the proposed legislation would make it possible for the RCA to collect needed funds. REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked what kind of equipment would be purchased with the funding. MR. WALTON deferred to former Representative Norman Rokeberg and mentioned some accessibly options on telecommunication devices. 3:27:19 PM REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked whether the surcharge is "outside what the Universal Service Fund does." MR. WALTON answered in the affirmative. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP surmised there are more subsidies. MR. WALTON answered he was not sure whether the equipment was supplied directly by the program. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked how much revenue was anticipated from the surcharge. MR. WALTON deferred to Mr. Rokeberg. 3:30:12 PM NORMAN ROKEBERG, Former Commissioner, Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), testified in the hearing on SB 80. He mentioned HB 202 is the companion bill. He said the proposed bill would create a statutory fix to update telecommunication services in Alaska. He said over 15,000 land lines had been eliminated due to technological advances in telephony. He indicated the proposed bill would allow the commission to reduce the surcharge in the range of .03 cents to .05 cents to spread more equitably the small burden of providing services to the deaf and hard of hearing community. MR. ROKEBERG said AS 42.05.296 contains the language, "that makes available reasonable access of all phases of public telephone service to deaf, hard of hearing, and speech impaired telephone subscribers." He informed that currently the equipment being distributed is obsolete. Additionally, the companies provide an analog type of tap tell system which is essentially texting over a landline service. He described a new technology called real time texting (RTT) which has been approved by the FCC and will allow other types of devices to be implemented. He further relayed the commission has established an iPad or tablet pilot program and in the first phase 22 people were selected throughout the state. He stated there were issues with connections in terms of speed. He said a number of other states have done similar things and Alaska is learning from those programs. He added the technology would aid people with speech disabilities. He said the initial appropriation was for $3,000. He said no additional funding was required and the program was entirely self-funding. He spoke to other types of services such as video services on computers, which allow translators to use American Sign Language. He added the Alaska statute mandates that hearing disabled people must be able to communicate with everyone. He said the bill provides an effective date. He requested the chairman [indisc.] 3:44:34 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked about the zero fiscal note (FN) for the proposed bill. He asked who allocated the funds. MR. ROKEBERG answered the surcharge goes into a dedicated fund which is managed by a provider - currently Sprint - who annually submits a budget which must be approved by the RCA. He explained a portion of the funds go to pay interpreters, equipment distribution, and the outreach program, Assistive Technology of Alaska (ATLA), who travel throughout the state to provide information on the program. He said the budget is self- contained and one of the concerns is finding a stable funding source. He said he thinks the commission may not have done the job consistently with legislative intent. 3:49:24 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked how the funds are distributed. MR. ROKEBERG answered there is a large national pool of interpreters. He said equipment is a relatively small part of the budget currently. REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked for a copy of the latest approved budget. MR. ROKEBERG clarified he was speaking as a private citizen and is no longer a commissioner. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked about the new rate. MR. ROKEBERG said if he were still on the commission, he would be recommended a single tier for ease of interpretation. 3:55:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked how many customers the program is covering currently. MR. ROKEBERG answered there is a large number of people affected by hearing and speech disabilities. He said he was not sure of the exact numbers. 3:57:31 PM JAN WILSON, Commissioner, testified in the hearing on SB 80. She updated the information on landlines and underlined use of landlines has continued to decline. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked whether there are outsourcing options that aren't housed within the state. MS. WILSON said she thinks Commissioner Rokeberg had done a thorough examination of the available technologies during his tenure. 4:00:23 PM CHAIR KITO opened public testimony on SB 80. He announced he would leave public testimony open. REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD said the Key Coalition and the Special Council on Disabilities had expressed support. REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP said he thinks it is a good bill. 4:02:32 PM CHAIR KITO held over SB 80.