STATES MOVE HOST OF BILLS AFFECTING COMMISSION OPERATIONS

A bill in the Cal. Senate to turn the appointed Cal. PUC into an elected body was approved unanimously Tues. by the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee. The measure (SCA-6) would require that a constitutional amendment to accomplish the transformation be placed before the voters in the 2004 general election. The PUC’s 5 members now are appointed by the governor, but under SCA 6 they would be elected by district. State Sen. Jim Battin (R-LaQuinta), the bill’s sponsor, said it reflected legislative concerns that the PUC wasn’t being responsive to the many changes taking place in the energy and telecom industries. Supporters believe the PUC should be more accountable to the public that uses utility services, and electing PUC members is the best way to achieve that accountability. Supporters acknowledged that electing the PUC would pose some problems, but said they hoped the bill would draw the PUC’s attention to the legislature’s concern. One member likened it to “grabbing their face mask to get their attention.” The bill now advances to the Senate Rules Committee.

An advancing govt. agency restructuring bill in Ark. (SB-45), which would place the Ark. PSC under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ark. Dept. of Commerce, is poised for a House vote on final passage. But a proposed House bill (HB-2826) would require that the PSC stay independent of any other state agency. Under SB-45, all state agencies would be assigned to one of 10 “principal departments.” The PSC would become an agency under the Commerce Dept., with all administrative office functions transferred to that dept. The PSC’s powers wouldn’t be affected and commissioners would continue to be selected as they are now. But the PSC’s budget, staffing, information systems and other administrative functions would be decided by the Secy. of Commerce. The bill’s purpose is to streamline government and cut costs. But some House members fear that restructuring would undermine the PSC’s authority and proposed HB-2826, which would exempt the PSC from the restructuring and require it to be independent of any other state agency. That bill is pending in House committee.

An advancing bill in S.C. would restructure the selection process for PSC commissioners, stagger their terms, add staff members and ban ex parte contacts between parties to cases and PSC members. The measure (HB-3530) passed the House and is pending in Senate committee. PSC members are elected by the legislature from a list of qualified candidates, and all 7 members are elected at once, with this year being a PSC election year. The bill would require that 4 members be elected this year to 4-year terms and 3 members to 2-year terms. After that, succeeding terms would be for 4 years. The bill would bar state lawmakers from seeking a PSC position while still a legislator and for 4 years after leaving the legislature. The bill would bar as a PSC candidate any person employed by a business that the PSC regulated. It also would create an advisory and advocacy staff for the PSC..

A Hawaii bill (SB-1049) that would remove wireless services from the PUC’s jurisdiction has gone to conference committee after the Senate rejected a House amendment that would have given the PUC and state consumer advocate jurisdiction to address consumers’ wireless service and billing complaints. Another Hawaii bill (HB-475), to require a management audit of the Hawaii PUC to determine whether the agency can cope with current telecom market conditions, was poised for Senate floor amendments after passing the House and clearing the Senate committee process. The bill would require an audit report to the legislature by the end of this year. The last management audit of the PUC was done in 1989.

A bill to require the Hawaii PUC to put up a fully interactive Web site (HB-473) is awaiting a Senate vote on final passage. It would require that the site provide the public with access to all PUC orders, documents, agendas and schedules, and that all submissions to the PUC be in electronic format. The PUC doesn’t have an interactive Web site. Another advancing PUC bill in Hawaii (HB-96) would prohibit the PUC from imputing revenue from a telecom carrier’s directory publishing affiliate when setting regulated telephone rates. The bill passed the House last month and now has passed the Senate’s Commerce, Consumer & Housing Committee.

A pending Colo. bill (SB-225) would allow the Colo. PUC to require that a telecom carrier post a security bond as a condition for intrastate certification. The PUC would have to consider various factors in deciding the size of the bond. The bill passed the Senate and is pending in House committee. An advancing Me. bill (LD-371/HB-291)would require that the Me. PUC conduct a rate case to ensure that an incumbent local exchange provider’s rates were just and reasonable before it adopted or renewed price caps or any other alternative regulation program. That bill has passed the House and is in pending in the Senate’s Utilities & Energy Committee.

The Mont. legislature passed HB-580 authorizing the PSC to follow expedited processes to resolve local interconnection complaints. Under the bill sent to Gov. Judy Martz (R), parties seeking expedited consideration would have to give other parties 10 days notice of their intent to petition and explain why they need expedited treatment. The expedited process would require the PSC to decide within 4 months. The N.D. legislature passed a bill (HB-1363) allowing the PSC to suspend portions of a telecom carrier’s tariff proposal. The bill sent to the governor’s desk would amend previous law that authorized the PSC to suspend only the entire tariff.

An advancing Ark. PSC bill (HB-1775) would guarantee that the Ark. PSC received a minimum of $18 million in operational funding over the next 2 years. It would appropriate $9.1 million for fiscal 2003 and $8.9 million for fiscal 2004. The bill has passed the Joint Budget Committee. A pending Mo. bill (SB-246) would allow members of the PSC to reside anywhere in the state. Current law requires that they reside within 40 miles of Jefferson City, the state capital. The measure also would authorize a 6-member independent PSC technical advisory staff and allow each commissioner to have one personal staff adviser. That bill passed the Senate and is pending in House committee.

Legislation in Mich. (SB-1) that would require the PSC to review the state subscriber line charges (SLC) of SBC and possibly Verizon is under consideration in the House Energy & Technology Committee. The measure, which passed the Senate in Feb., would require SBC and Verizon to submit their state SLCs to the PSC for review of the cost basis for those fees within 7 months of enactment. If the PSC found the charges to be unjustified by costs, it could order the SLCs reduced or abolished. A similar House bill (HB-4030) also is in the House energy panel. The legislation was a response to a Dec. deal between then Gov. John Engler and the 2 telcos under which the state accepted a 15% SLC reduction in return for the carriers dropping their litigation over a 2000 state law that would get rid of their SLCs.

The advancing bills follow in the wake of state laws enacted this year on state commission structures and operations. For instance, the Utah legislature adopted a resolution (SJR-4) calling for an investigation this year by the legislature’s Interim Public Utilities & Technology Committee on whether the Utah PSC should be restructured from an appointed to an elected agency. The resolution directs that hearings be held by Sept. 30. The interim utilities committee says it plans to meet April 16 to discuss PSC restructuring. “Because of the substantial long-term consequences of the Public Service Commission’s actions, it is important that its structure is designed to meet the needs of the state,” the resolution said. The resolution concluded that a public forum would be the best way to get a broad cross section of public input on the question.

A 2003 law in N.M. creates a public financing system for election campaigns for the N.M. Public Regulation Commission starting with the 2006 election. To qualify for public campaign financing from the $300,000 fund established by the law (HB-420), a candidate must collect $5 donations from a minimum number of voters, determined for each election by the Secy. of State based on the total number of voters casting ballots in the last PRC election. The amount a candidate gets will be based on the average campaign expenditures per candidate in the last 3 PRC elections and on whether an upcoming election is contested. Candidates who accept public funding can’t accept contributions from private donors, but can accept financial or in-kind aid from their political party equal to 10% of their public financing allotment. The campaign fund will be supported by PRC assessments on regulated industries.

A new Ky. law (SB-138) allows the PSC to use videotapes of its proceedings as the “full and complete record” required by statute. Stenographic transcripts no longer will be required, although parties still can request them for a particular case. A new W.Va. law (SB-436) directs the PSC by the end of this year to establish a state 211 information and referral number that people can call when seeking assistance for health and human service needs. A 2003 law in N.D. (HB- 1135) gives the PSC authority to investigate and resolve numbering issues associated with establishing 211 service and any other “N11” dialing services.

A Miss. law (HB-1526) appropriates $9.9 million from the general treasury to keep the PSC running after July 1. An S.D. law (HB-1231) requires that all funds collected from the special state utility gross receipts tax that supports the PUC be used for PUC operations and can’t be appropriated for any other operations of state government. The law ensures that the PUC fund won’t be raided by the legislature to plug up state budget gaps.

A new universal service law in Mont. (SB-173) allows the PSC to alter the definition of “service area” for determining rural universal service support. The law requires that the PSC consult with the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and take its recommendations into account before altering a universal service area. Currently, the PSC must follow the service areas established by the FCC. A Colo. law (SB-223) extends the statutory life of the Colo. PUC by 5 years, to July 1, 2008. The agency had been scheduled to sunset this summer. A similar law in W.Va. (SB-293) extends the legal life of the W.Va. PSC for 5 years, also to July 1, 2008. That agency also was scheduled to sunset this summer.

A Wyo. law (HB-143) established a separate consumer advocate division within the Wyo. PSC. Up to now, consumer advocacy had been handled by PSC staff members on an ad hoc basis. Supporters said an independent division would be able to better represent consumer interests and could file appeals of PSC decisions. The law requires the governor to appoint an administrative head by July 1 to supervise 5 other full- time employees. A new Va. law (HB-2721) authorized the Va. Corporation Commission to defer selected issues in interconnection contract disputes that it arbitrated under the Telecom Act. It also gives the PSC discretion to decide which cases under the Act it chooses to arbitrate. The law allows the commission to recover any extra costs it incurs in arbitrating cases. It addresses the commission’s concerns about being forced to arbitrate disputes that might affect the state’s 11th Amendment immunity from federal court suits over its decisions.

Among this year’s legislative casualties was an Iowa bill (SSB-1002) that would have required the Iowa Utilities Board to terminate price caps and deregulate retail rates of the state’s 3 largest telcos. The intent was to spur broadband development. The bill would have required that half of the revenue gains from any retail rate increases be applied to broadband service investment. The bill never made it out of committee and is dead for this year. Another casualty was a Nev. bill that would have repealed a 2001 law scheduled to take effect Oct. 1 that would have expanded the Nev. PUC to 5 members from 3. The repeal bill (SB-414) was tabled indefinitely in Senate committee.