H-4182              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2019

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives Lux, Jacobsen, Miller and D. Nelson

Read first time 1/24/86 and referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.

AN ACT Relating to telecommunications devices for the deaf; and adding a new section to chapter 70.54 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 70.54 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The utilities and transportation commission shall design and implement a program whereby each telephone company and telecommunications company shall provide a telecommunications device capable of servicing the needs of the deaf or severely hearing impaired, together with a single party line, at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any subscriber who is certified as deaf or severely hearing impaired by a licensed physician, audiologist, or a qualified state agency and to any subscriber that is an organization representing the deaf or severely hearing impaired, as determined and specified by the commission pursuant to subsection (4) of this section.

          (2) The commission shall also design and implement a program whereby each telephone company and telecommunications company shall provide a dual party relay system, using third-party intervention to connect deaf or severely hearing impaired persons and offices of organizations representing the deaf or severely hearing impaired, as determined and specified by the commission pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, with persons of normal hearing by way of intercommunications devices for the deaf or severely hearing impaired and the telephone system, making available reasonable access of all phases of public telephone service to deaf or severely hearing impaired telephone subscribers.  In order to make a dual party relay system that will meet the requirements of deaf and severely hearing impaired persons available at a reasonable cost, the commission shall initiate an investigation, conduct public hearings to determine the most cost-effective method of providing dual party relay service to the deaf or severely hearing impaired when using a telecommunications device, and solicit the advice, counsel, and physical assistance of state-wide nonprofit consumer organizations of the deaf, during the development and implementation of the system.  The commission shall phase-in this program, on a geographical basis, over a three-year period ending on January 1, 1989.

          (3) The commission shall also design and implement a program whereby specialized or supplemental telephone communications equipment may be provided to subscribers who are certified to be disabled at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate.  The certification, including a statement of medical need for specialized telephone communications equipment, shall be provided by a licensed physician and surgeon acting within the scope of his or her license or by a qualified state agency, as determined by the commission.  The commission shall, in this connection, study the feasibility of, and implement if determined to be feasible, personal income criteria, in addition to the medical certification of disability, for determining a subscriber's eligibility under this subsection.

          (4) The commission shall establish a rate recovery mechanism, which shall not exceed five cents per month for each line of a subscriber, to allow telephone companies and telecommunications companies to recover costs as they are incurred under this section.  The commission shall require that the programs implemented under this section be identified on subscribers bills as "communication devices funds for deaf and disabled" and shall establish a separate fund and require separate accounting for each of the programs implemented under this section.

          (5) The commission shall determine and specify those state-wide organizations representing the deaf or severely hearing impaired that shall receive a telecommunications device pursuant to subsection (1) of this section or a dual party relay system pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, or both, and in which offices the equipment shall be installed in the case of an organization having more than one office.  The commission shall direct the telephone companies and telecommunications companies subject to its jurisdiction to comply with its determinations and specifications in this regard.