SENATE FILE 322

BY  McCOY

A BILL FOR

An Act imposing a surcharge applicable to telecommunications carriers to administer the national federation for the blind newsline.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 216B.3, subsection 19, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The commission may enter into necessary contracts and arrangements with the national federation for the blind to provide for the delivery of newspapers over the telephone, furnished by the national federation for the blind, and shall utilize the surcharge revenue collected pursuant to section 477.9B to facilitate and administer such delivery.
   Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  477.9B  Surcharge —— national federation for the blind —— newsline.
   1.  The board shall adopt by rule a monthly surcharge to be imposed on all telecommunications carriers providing service in this state. The surcharge shall be imposed uniformly on a statewide basis and calculated in an amount necessary to generate fifty thousand dollars of annual surcharge revenue. Imposition of the annual surcharge shall commence July 1, 2012.
   2.  The board shall provide no less than one hundred days’ notice of the surcharge to be imposed to each telecommunications carrier. The board may adjust the amount of the surcharge as necessary, but no more than once in any calendar year.
   3.  The surcharge shall be collected as part of the telecommunications carrier’s periodic billing to a subscriber. The surcharge shall appear as a single line item on a subscriber’s periodic billing indicating that the surcharge is for the national federation for the blind newsline service. The surcharges shall be remitted quarterly by the telecommunications carrier to the board for deposit into the fund established in subsection 5.
   4.  A telecommunications carrier is not liable for an uncollected surcharge for which the telecommunications carrier has billed a subscriber but which has not been paid.
   5.  Moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a separate newsline surcharge fund within the state treasury under the control of the board, and shall be appropriated annually to the department for the blind to be utilized in administering the delivery of newspapers over the telephone, furnished by the national federation for the blind as provided in section 216B.3. Section 8.33 shall not apply to moneys in the fund. Moneys earned as income, including as interest, from the fund shall remain in the fund until expended as provided in this section.
EXPLANATION
   This bill establishes a surcharge applicable to telecommunications carriers to administer the national federation for the blind newsline.
   The bill provides that the Iowa utilities board shall adopt by rule a monthly surcharge to be imposed on all telecommunications carriers providing service in Iowa, beginning July 1, 2012, in an amount necessary to generate $50,000 of annual surcharge revenue. The bill states that the board shall provide no less than 100 days’ notice of the surcharge to be imposed, and that the board may adjust the amount of the surcharge as necessary, but no more than once in any calendar year. The bill provides that the surcharge shall be collected as part of the telecommunications carrier’s periodic billing to a subscriber, appearing as a single line item indicating that the surcharge is for the national federation for the blind newsline service.
   The surcharge shall be remitted quarterly by each carrier and deposited in a separate newsline surcharge fund within the state treasury under the control of the board. The revenue shall be appropriated annually to the department for the blind to be utilized in administering the delivery of newspapers over the telephone, furnished by the national federation for the blind.