An Act To Facilitate the Involvement of the Office of the Public Advocate ill the FairPoint Communicatio.ns Bankruptcy Case
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1643
Sponsors: HINCK, HOBBINS, DOSTIE, FLAHERTY, FLETCHER, VAN WIE, BOWMAN, SHERMAN

Legislative Document 
No. 1643 
H.P.1171 
House of Representatives, December 23,2009 
An Act To Facilitate the Involvement of the Office of the Public 
Advocate ill the FairPoint Communicatio.ns Bankruptcy Case 
(EMERGENCY) 
. Received by the Clerk ofthe House on December 21,2009. RefelTed to the Committee on 
Utilities and Energy pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative HINCK of Portland. (GOVERNOR'S BILL) 
Cosponsored by Senator HOBBINS of York and 
Represeiltatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, DOSTIE of Sabattus, FLAHERTY of Scarborough, 
FLETCHER of Winslow, VAN WIE of New Gloucester, Senators: BOWMAN of York, 
SHERMAN of Aroostook. 
PrinlL:d llll rt!t:ydt!LI partOr 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, FairPoint Communications has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection 
in United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District o_fNew York in Manhattan; and 
Whereas, the interests of Maine customers, other users of FairPoint's network in 
Maine and certain state agencies, including the Department of Public Safety, the Maine 
Emergency Management Agency and the Office of the Gove);nor, are at risk of being 
8. 
ignored or not given proper consideration by the bankruptcy court if the Office of the 
Public Advocate, on behalf of Maine telecommUIiications providers' ratepayers and other 
Maine. public interests, does not have sufficient financial resources to cover the costs 
neces·sary . to be actively involved in the resolution of the FairPoint bankruptcy 
proceeding; and 
Whereas, the FairPoint bankruptcy case is currently underway in New York City, . 
a)~d the immediate and active involvement of the Office of the Public Advocate and its 
bankruptcy attorney is necessary in order to engage in the proceedings and negotiations 
that will lead to a settlement in tile case, either through a settlement agreement or a 
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judginent by the bankruptcy judge; and 
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Whereas, without the timely availability of sufficient funds for the Office of the 
Public Advocate to carry- on an active and aggressive effort to advance and protect 
Maine's public interest in this proceeding, there is a real risk that the resources needed to 
ensure that the necessary repairs to FairPoint's OSS/BSS back office systems may not be 
set aside by the bankruptcy court and reserved for these critically important repairs; and 
Whereas, in the jUdgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
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the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation .as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, .health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 
1. 
Office of the Public Advocate; special assessment on 
telecommunications entities. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in fiscal 
year 2009-10, every telecommunications entity subject to an assessment under the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 116, subsection 8 is ·subject to an additional 
assessment on its intrastate gross operating revenues sufficient to produce $100,000 total. 
The revenues produced from this assessment are transferred to the Public Advocate 
Regulatory Fund and may only be used for the costs associate.d with representing Maine 
telecommunications 
ratepayers 
and 
Maine's 
public 
inter.ests in. the 
FairPoint 
Communications bankruptcy proceedings in United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern 
District of New York. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
Page I - 124LR2521 (01 )-1 
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SUMMARY 
This bill authorizes an allocation of $1 00,000 to cover costs to be incurred through a 
contract for legal services to be provided by bankruptcy counsel for the FairPoint 
Communications bankruptcy proceedings in New York. This bill authorizes the Qffice of 
the Public Advocate to impose a special assessment to cover the cost of those legal 
services only on those telecommunications providers already subjec( to assessment under 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35~A, section 116, subsection 8.