1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to utilities; expanding the telephone 
  1.3             assistance program to provide assistance to low-income 
  1.4             families with children; establishing pilot programs 
  1.5             for voice mail assistance; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             1996, sections 237.70, subdivisions 4a and 6; and 
  1.7             237.701, subdivision 1. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.70, 
  1.10  subdivision 4a, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 4a.  [HOUSEHOLDS ELIGIBLE FOR CREDITS.] The telephone 
  1.12  assistance plan must provide telephone assistance credit for a 
  1.13  residential household in Minnesota that meets each of the 
  1.14  following criteria: 
  1.15     (1) has a household member who: 
  1.16     (i) subscribes to local exchange service; and 
  1.17     (ii) (i) has at least one member who is either disabled or 
  1.18  65 years of age or older; or 
  1.19     (ii) has at least one member who is 18 years of age or 
  1.20  under; and 
  1.21     (2) whose household income is 150 percent or less of 
  1.22  federal poverty guidelines or is currently eligible for: 
  1.23     (i) aid to families with dependent children; 
  1.24     (ii) medical assistance; 
  1.25     (iii) general assistance; 
  1.26     (iv) Minnesota supplemental aid; 
  2.1      (v) food stamps; 
  2.2      (vi) refugee cash assistance or refugee medical assistance; 
  2.3      (vii) energy assistance; or 
  2.4      (viii) supplemental security income; and 
  2.5      (3) who has been certified as eligible for telephone 
  2.6   assistance plan credits. 
  2.7      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.70, 
  2.8   subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  2.9      Subd. 6.  [FUNDING.] The commission shall provide for the 
  2.10  funding of the telephone assistance plan by assessing a uniform 
  2.11  recurring monthly surcharge sufficient to provide for the 
  2.12  projected demand and eligibility for assistance under the 
  2.13  program, not to exceed ten 14 cents per access line, applicable 
  2.14  to all classes and grades of access lines provided by each 
  2.15  telephone company in the state. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.701, 
  2.17  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subdivision 1.  [FUND CREATED; AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.] 
  2.19  The telephone assistance fund is created as a separate account 
  2.20  in the state treasury to consist of amounts received by the 
  2.21  department of administration representing the surcharge 
  2.22  authorized by section 237.70, subdivision 6, and amounts earned 
  2.23  on the fund assets.  Money in the fund may be used only for: 
  2.24     (1) reimbursement to telephone companies for expenses and 
  2.25  credits allowed in section 237.70, subdivision 7, paragraph (d), 
  2.26  clause (5); 
  2.27     (2) reimbursement of the administrative expenses of the 
  2.28  department of human services to implement sections 237.69 to 
  2.29  237.71, not to exceed $314,000 annually $475,000 in fiscal year 
  2.30  1998 and $414,000 annually thereafter; 
  2.31     (3) reimbursement of the administrative expenses of the 
  2.32  commission not to exceed $25,000 annually; and 
  2.33     (4) reimbursement of the statewide indirect cost of the 
  2.34  commission. 
  2.35     Sec. 4.  [COMMUNITY VOICE MAIL; PILOT PROGRAMS.] 
  2.36     (a) The commissioner of the department of human services 
  3.1   shall develop and implement, by July 1, 1997, three pilot 
  3.2   programs to provide voice mail services for individuals who do 
  3.3   not have a telephone and who meet the income criteria in 
  3.4   Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.70, subdivision 4a.  One 
  3.5   pilot program should be in the metropolitan area and one in 
  3.6   greater Minnesota.  The commissioner shall contract with a 
  3.7   nonprofit, community-based voice mail provider for the provision 
  3.8   of these services, and shall report to the legislature by 
  3.9   December 31, 1998, regarding the demand for these services, the 
  3.10  impact of the availability of voice mail on the individuals 
  3.11  receiving voice mail services, and legislative recommendations 
  3.12  regarding the continued provision of such services. 
  3.13     (b) The public utilities commission shall provide up to $2 
  3.14  per month per active voice mail account from the telephone 
  3.15  assistance fund established in Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 
  3.16  237.701, up to a total of $50,000 for these pilot programs, and 
  3.17  shall consider this additional use of the fund in establishing 
  3.18  the uniform statewide surcharge for the telephone assistance 
  3.19  plan.