An Act To Ensure Continued Availability of High-speed Broadband Internet at Maine's Schools and Libraries
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0256
Committee Amendment CA_A_H189 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §7104-B

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT «A" to H.P. 189, L.D. 256, Bill, "An Act To 
Ensure Continued Availability of High-speed Broadband Internet at Maine's Schools and 
Libraries" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §7104-B, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 623, Pt. B, 
§20, is further amended to read: 
2. Authority. Pursuant to the authority granted in section 7104 and in order to carry 
out the policy goals established by section 7101, subsections 1, 2 and 4, the commission 
shall establish a telecommunications education access fund, refened to in this section as 
the "fund," and require all voice network service providers providing service in the State 
and any other entities identified by the eommission to contribute to the fund. The fund 
must be available, with any accumulated interest, to qualified libraries, qualified schools 
and the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine to assist in paying the 
costs of acquiring and using advanced telecommunications technologies. 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §7104-B, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 600, §6 and 
affected by § 10, is amended to read: 
2-A. Determination of amount of prepaid wireless telecommunications service 
fee. The commission shall determine by rule the amount of the fee on prepaid wireless 
telecommunications service that is required to be contributed to the fund. 
The 
commission shall limit the fee is a fuwd amount to no more than 21¢ per retail transaction 
established by multiplying $25 by a percentage that is determined by the commission for 
purposes of calculating contrib«tions to the fund by providers of intrastate 
telecommunications services. The fee must be rounded to the nearest penny. The fee 
may not be adjusted by the commission more frequently than once every 24 months. The 
collection of the fee is governed by section 7104-C. Rules adopted pursuant to this 
subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
,, 
, (' 
H. CI ~i. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"~" to H.P. 189, L.D. 256 
Sec. 3. 35-A MRSA §7104-B, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 623, Pt. B, 
§§21 to 23, is further amended to read: 
3. Limitations; imposition. In carrying out the authority granted by subsection 2, 
the commission shall: 
A. bimit With respect to the contributions for the fund required from voice network 
service providers other than prepaid wireless telecommunications service providers, 
limit the amount oolleoted contributed to no more than 0.7% of retail ohal'ges for 
way voioe oommunioations servioes as determined by the oommission, ex.eluding 
interstate tolls or intel'state private line servioes; 21¢ per month per line or number, 
assessed as a monthly surcharge, to be levied on: 
(1) Residential and business telephone exchange lines, including private branch 
exchange lines and Centrex lines; 
(2) Interconnected voice over Internet protocol service; and 
(3) Providers of mobile telecommunications services that. are not providers of 
prepaid wireless telecommunications service. 
The surcharge established in this paragraph may not be levied on more than 25 lines 
or numbers per customer billing account; 
B. Ensure that the funds are collected in a competitively neutral manner; 
C. Integrate the collection of the eharge surcharge with any state universal service 
fund developed by the commission; and 
D. Require, if a voice network service provider recovers its contributions under this 
section by means of a charge placed on a bill issued to a customer, explicit 
identification on customer bills of any ohurge the surcharge imposed under this 
section. 
Sec. 4. Report. The Department of Education and the Maine State Library shall 
jointly submit by January 15, 2018 to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities 
and Technology a report containing the following: 
1. A list of all recipients of money from the telecommunications education access 
fund established pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 7104-B, 
referred to in this section as "the fund"; a description of the goods or services for which 
money from the fund was received, including the amount of money received by recipients 
for such goods or services; and whether the goods or services for which money from the 
fund was received were eligible for reimbursement through the federal E-rate program; 
2. A description of the process used by recipients of money from the fund to select 
vendors for goods or services, including whether there was a competitive bidding process 
and, if so, whether the competitive bidding process included provisions for services that 
were compensated with money from a source other than the fund; and 
3. A list of qualified schools and qualified libraries pursuant to Title 35-A, section 
7104-B, subsection 2 and, with respect to each school or library location, the following 
information: 
A. The broadband capacity; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
11. ci s. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 189, L.D. 256 
B. The average daily broadband use; 
C. The amount received through the federal E-rate program to provide broadband 
access; and 
D. The amount received from the fund to provide broadband access. 
Sec. 5. Prepaid wireless telecommunications service fee. Notwithstanding 
the prohibition under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 7104-B, subsection 
2-A 
on 
the 
Public 
Utilities 
Commission's 
adjusting the 
prepaid 
wireless 
telecommunications service fee more than once every 24 months, the Public Utilities 
Commission shall adjust the prepaid wireless telecommunications service fee to conform 
to Title 35-A, section 7104-B, subsection 2-A, as amended by this Act.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the majority report of the committee, and it replaces the bill. It 
caps the prepaid wireless telecommunications service fee that is contributed to the 
telecommunications education access fund at 21¢ per retail transaction and caps the fee 
levied 
on 
voice 
network 
service 
providers 
other 
than 
prepaid 
wireless 
telecommunications service providers to no more than 21¢ per month per line or number, 
assessed as a monthly surcharge. The amendment requires the Department of Education 
and the Maine State Library to jointly submit a report by January 15, 2018 to the Joint 
Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology that includes detailed 
information on how the telecommunications education access fund is used. Lastly, this 
amendment specifies that, notwithstanding the current prohibition under the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 7104-B, subsection 2-A on the Public Utilities 
Commission's adjusting the prepaid wireless telecommunications service fee more than 
once every 24 months, the commission is required to adjust the prepaid wireless 
telecommunications service fee to conform to the change made by this amendment. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/09/17 Mac 
LD256 
LR 1837(02) 
An Act To Ensure Continued Availability of High-speed Broadband Internet at Maine's Schools and 
Libraries 
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Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment fr C H-18°!) 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Change to rate structure of fees assessed by PUC - Maine Telecommunications Education Access Fund 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
This bill would cap and change the rate structure for prepaid wireless telecommunications services and voice network 
service providers that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) uses to assess a surcharge or fee that is credited to the 
Maine Telecommunications Education Access Fund (MTEAF). It also updates the definitions of the categories of 
such services to reflect changes in telecommunications industry terminology and billing methods. These changes may 
raise the fee for some services while others may be lowered. As under current law, the PUC will continue to have 
some flexibility to adjust assessments up to the caps to assure adequate funding in the MTEAF. Any additional costs 
to the PUC to implement these changes are anticipated to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted 
resources. 
Additional costs to the Maine State Library and the Department of Education to prepare and submit the 
required report can be absorbed within each agency's existing budgeted resources. 
LR1837(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of I