HBA-DMD H.B. 2904 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2904 By: Seaman State Affairs 4/9/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, extended local toll-free calling is available to individuals in certain exchanges that petition the Public Utility Commission (commission) for this option. To obtain this service, the local exchange in a community must petition the commission for extended local calling and pay a flat monthly fee. However, in some instances, the local carrier or local exchange company has the option of whether individuals served by the carrier can or cannot petition the commission for extended local toll-free calling. H.B. 2904 provides that the prohibition against the commission requiring an incumbent local exchange company (exchange company) that is serving the petitioning or requested exchange to expand the exchange company toll-free local calling area if the exchange company has fewer than 10,000 access lines does not apply to an exchange company that has certificates of convenience and a necessity to serve more than one service area in this state, and has a total of more than 10,000 access lines in this state. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 55.044, Utilities Code, by adding Subsection (c), to provide that the exemption provided by Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to an incumbent local exchange company that has certificates of convenience and a necessity to serve more than one service area in this state, and has a total of more than 10,000 access lines in this state. Subsection (a)(1) prohibits the Public Utility Commission from requiring an incumbent local exchange company that is serving the petitioning or requested exchange to expand the company's toll-free local calling area if the incumbent local exchange company has fewer than 10,000 access lines. SECTION 2.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.