House Bill 1338

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 77-3-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TO HAVE OVERSIGHT OVER THE COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICE (CMRS) BOARD REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN FUNDS TO THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION DISTRICTS (ECDs); TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMISSION PROMULGATE CERTAIN RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SUCH OVERSIGHT; TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-333, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE CMRS BOARD TO SUPPLY CERTAIN INFORMATION TO THE COMMISSION UPON ITS REQUEST; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 77-3-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

77-3-5. (1) Subject to the limitations imposed in this article and in accordance with the provisions hereof, the Public Service Commission shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over the intrastate business and property of public utilities. However, the commission shall not have jurisdiction over the production and gathering of natural gas or the sale of natural gas in or within the vicinity of the field where produced, or over the facilities and equipment utilized in any such operations including, but not limited to, such facilities as separators, scrubbers and gasoline plants of all types. Moreover, the commission shall not have jurisdiction to regulate the rates for the sales:

(a) Of gas, water, electricity or sewage disposal services by municipalities to such persons as said municipalities are authorized by law to serve;

(b) Of gas or electricity by cooperative gas or electric power associations to the members thereof as consumers, except as provided by Sections 77-3-15 and 77-3-17, where service is rendered in a municipality;

(c) Of water or sewage disposal service by nonprofit corporations or associations where the governing body of such corporation or association is elected by the consumers thereof or appointed by the county board of supervisors; or

(d) Of water by districts organized under the provisions of Chapter 45, Laws of 1966-1967, Extraordinary Session.

(2) The Public Service Commission shall have oversight over the Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Board regarding the distribution of the CMRS emergency telephone service charge to the Emergency Communications District as provided in Section 19-5-333. Further, the commission shall promulgate rules and regulations, as may be necessary, to carry out the oversight provided for in this subsection.

SECTION 2. Section 19-5-333, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-333. (1) There is created a Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Board, consisting of seven (7) members to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The members of the board shall be appointed as follows:

(a) One (1) member from the Northern Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the Mississippi 911 Coordinators Association;

(b) One (1) member from the Central Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the Mississippi Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communication Officers;

(c) One (1) member from the Southern Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the National Emergency Numbering Association;

(d) Two (2) members who are wireless provider representatives;

(e) One (1) member who is a consumer representing the state at large with no affiliation to the three (3) trade associations or the wireless providers; and

(f) One (1) member who is a member of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Association selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the association.

The initial terms of the board members, as appointed after July 1, 2002, shall be staggered as follows: the members appointed under paragraph (d) shall serve a term of two (2) years; the member appointed under paragraph (e) shall serve a term of one (1) year. After the expiration of the initial terms, the term for all members shall be four (4) years.

(2) The board shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To collect and distribute a CMRS emergency telephone service charge on each CMRS customer whose place of primary use is within the state. The rate of such CMRS service charge shall be One Dollar ($1.00) per month per CMRS connection. The CMRS service charge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed throughout the state. The board is authorized to receive all revenues derived from the CMRS service charge levied on CMRS connections in the state and collected pursuant to Section 19-5-335.

(b) To establish and maintain the CMRS Fund as an insured, interest-bearing account into which the board shall deposit all revenues derived from the CMRS service charge levied on CMRS connections in the state and collected pursuant to Section 19-5-335. The revenues which are deposited into the CMRS Fund shall not be monies or property of the state and shall not be subject to appropriation by the Legislature. Interest derived from the CMRS Fund shall be divided equally to pay reasonable costs incurred by providers in compliance with the requirements of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341 and to compensate those persons, parties or firms employed by the CMRS Board as contemplated in paragraph (d) of this subsection. The interest income is not subject to the two percent (2%) cap on administrative spending established in Section 19-5-335(3).

(c) To establish a distribution formula by which the board will make disbursements of the CMRS service charge in the following amounts and in the following manner:

(i) Out of the funds collected by the board, thirty percent (30%) shall be deposited into the CMRS Fund, and shall be used to defray the administrative expenses of the board in accordance with Section 19-5-335(3) and to pay the actual costs incurred by such CMRS providers in complying with the wireless E911 service requirements established by the FCC Order and any rules and regulations which are or may be adopted by the FCC pursuant to the FCC Order, including, but not limited to, costs and expenses incurred for designing, upgrading, purchasing, leasing, programming, installing, testing or maintaining all necessary data, hardware and software required in order to provide such service as well as the incremental costs of operating such service. Sworn invoices must be presented to the board in connection with any request for payment and approved by a majority vote of the board prior to any such disbursement, which approval shall not be withheld or delayed unreasonably. In no event shall any invoice for payment be approved for the payment of costs that are not related to compliance with the wireless E911 service requirements established by the FCC Order and any rules and regulations which are or may be adopted by the FCC pursuant to the FCC Order, and any rules and regulations which may be adopted by the FCC with respect to implementation of wireless E911 services.

(ii) The remainder of all funds collected by the board, which shall not be less than seventy percent (70%) of the total funds collected by the board, shall be distributed by the board monthly based on the number of CMRS connections in each ECD for use in providing wireless E911 service, including capital improvements, and in their normal operations. For purposes of distributing the funds to each ECD, every CMRS provider shall identify to the CMRS Board the ECD to which funds should be remitted based on zip code plus four (4) designation, as required by the federal Uniform Sourcing Act.

An ECD board that has within its jurisdiction zip code designations that do not adhere to county lines shall assist CMRS providers in determining the appropriate county to which funds should be distributed.

The Public Service Commission shall have oversight and shall promulgate rules and regulations, as may be necessary, to verify the accuracy of the disbursements that the board makes to the ECDs as prescribed in this subsection.

(d) To contract for the services of accountants, attorneys, consultants, engineers and any other persons, firms or parties the board deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341.

(e) To obtain from an independent, third-party auditor retained by the board annual reports to the board no later than sixty (60) days after the close of each fiscal year, which shall provide an accounting for all CMRS service charges deposited into the CMRS Fund during the preceding fiscal year and all disbursements to ECDs during the preceding fiscal year. The board shall provide a copy of the annual reports to the Chairmen of the Public Utilities Committees of the House of Representatives and Senate.

(f) To retain an independent, third-party accountant who shall audit CMRS providers at the discretion of the CMRS Board to verify the accuracy of each CMRS providers' service charge collection. The information obtained by the audits shall be used solely for the purpose of verifying that CMRS providers accurately are collecting and remitting the CMRS service charge and may be used for any legal action initiated by the board against CMRS providers.

(g) To levy interest charges at the legal rate of interest established in Section 75-17-1 on any amount due and outstanding from any CMRS provider who fails to remit service charges in accordance with Section 19-5-335(1).

(h) To promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effect the provisions of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341.

(i) To make the determinations and disbursements as provided by Section 19-5-333(2)(c).

(j) To maintain a registration database of all CMRS providers and to impose an administrative fine on any provider that fails to comply with the registration requirements in Section 19-5-335.

(k) The board shall provide the Public Service Commission, upon its request, with a copy of the board's annual reports, audits, and any other information including, but not limited to, papers, records, documents, financial statements or any other related documents to verify the accuracy of the disbursements that the board makes to the ECD as required by this subsection.

(3) The CMRS service charge provided in subsection (2)(a) of this section and the service charge provided in Section 19-5-357 to fund the training of public safety telecommunicators shall be the only charges assessed to CMRS customers relating to emergency telephone services.

(4) The board shall serve without compensation; however, members of the board shall be entitled to be reimbursed for actual expenses and travel costs associated with their service in an amount not to exceed the reimbursement authorized for state officers and employees in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(5) It is the Legislature's intent to ensure that the State of Mississippi shall be Phase I compliant by July 1, 2005. For purposes of this subsection, Phase I compliant means the mandate by the FCC that requires any carrier when responding to a PSAP to define and deliver data related to the cell site location and the caller's call-back number.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.