An Act To Promote Affordable Telephone Service for Business and Residential Customers in Rural Maine Amend the bill in section I by subsection 2 (page 1, lines 36 to 50 in its place the following: striking out all of L.D.) and inserting in I 2. Access rates. After any decrease of interstate access rates by the Federal Government. the commission shall consider corresponding reductions in intrastate access rates. taking into account both the disadvantages to customers of intrastate access rates that exceed interstate access rates and the disadvantages to customers of increases in rates for local telephone service that may result from reductions in intrastate access rates. A. By May 31. 2005. the commission shall ensure that intrastate access rates are equal to interstate access rates established by the Federal Communications Commission as of January L 2003. B. If achieving the result required under paragraph A would result in an increase of more than 50% in the price of local telephone service. whether as a result of an increase in local service rates or an increase in universal service fund collections. the commission shall: (1) Phase in intrastate access rate reductions through stepped reductions so as to produce as smooth a transition as possible; and Page 1-LR1311(2) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0265
Committee Amendment CA_A_S21 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. A 
.. to S.P. 99, L.D. 265, Bill, "An Act 
To 
Promote 
Affordable 
Telephone 
Service 
for 
Business 
and 
Residential Customers in Rural Maine" 
Amend 
the 
bill 
in 
section 
I 
by 
subsection 2 (page 1, lines 36 to 50 in 
its place the following: 
striking 
out all 
of 
L.D.) and inserting in 
I 2. 
Access rates. 
After any decrease of interstate access 
rates by the Federal Government. the commission shall consider 
corresponding reductions in intrastate access rates. taking into 
account both the disadvantages to customers of intrastate access 
rates that exceed interstate access rates and the disadvantages 
to customers of increases in rates for local telephone service 
that may result from reductions in intrastate access rates. 
A. 
By 
May 
31. 
2005. 
the commission shall ensure that 
intrastate access rates are equal to interstate access rates 
established by the Federal Communications Commission as of 
January L 
2003. 
B. 
If achieving the result required under paragraph A would 
result in an increase of more than 50% in the price of local 
telephone service. whether as a result of an increase in 
local service rates or an increase in universal service fund 
collections. the commission shall: 
(1) 
Phase in intrastate access rate reductions through 
stepped 
reductions 
so 
as 
to 
produce 
as 
smooth 
a 
transition as possible; and 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
.. 
\-,~ .. 
~ 
.'(," 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·A .. to S.P. 99, L.D. 265 
(2) 
To the maximum extent possible, keep increases in 
the price of local telephone service to no more than 
SO~ for each stepped reduction in the intrastate access 
rate. 
C. 
If interstate access rates are reduced by the Federal 
Communications Commission below the rates as of January L 
2003, 
the 
commission 
may 
further 
require reductions 
in 
intrastate 
access 
rates 
beyond 
what 
is 
required 
under 
paragraph A, 
except that, within any 
2~year period, 
the 
commission 
may 
not 
require 
such 
further 
access 
rate 
reduction if the result will be an increase of more than 50% 
in local service rates or an increase of more than SO'l-o in 
the collection rate for the state universal service fund. 
The commission may adopt rules to implement this subsection. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical 
rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.· 
SUMMARY 
Current law requires that intrastate access rates be equal 
to or less than interstate access rates. 
The Public Utilities 
Commission has directed the full reduction in access rates for 
Verizon but has given the independent local exchange carriers 
more time to phase in the rate reductions. 
The commission has 
directed that the local eXChange carriers achieve the reductions 
by May 31, 2003, which will result in substantial local rate 
increases for these companies. 
This amendment provides for a 2-year delay in the reduction 
of intrastate access rates to the interstate level as of January 
1, 2003. 
The amendment also provides that if further reduction 
occur in interstate access rates, the commission may further 
reduce intrastate access rates provided that in any 2-year period 
the further reductions do not result in an increase of more than 
50~ in the price of local telephone service or in the collection 
rate for the state universal service fund. 
COMM/rrEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 02/09/03 frae 
Office of Fiscal and Program Review 
LD265 
An Act To Promote Affordable Telephone Service for Business and 
Residential Customers in Rural Maine 
LR 1311(01) 
Fiscal Note for Original Bill 
Sponsor: Sen. Hall 
Committee: Utilities and Energy 
Fiscal Note Required: No 
Fiscal Note 
This bill has no fiscal impact. 
LR1311(1) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1