Bill Text: TX HB3535 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the payment of certain fees to municipalities by entities that provide telecommunications and cable or video services.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 8)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-05-08 - Laid on the table subject to call [HB3535 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3535-Comm_Sub.html

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86R24600 JXC-F
By: Phelan, et al. H.B. No. 3535
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3535:
By: Harless C.S.H.B. No. 3535

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the payment of certain fees to municipalities by
entities that provide telecommunications and cable or video
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 283.051, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
(d) In this subsection, "affiliated group" has the meaning
assigned by Section 171.0001, Tax Code. A certificated
telecommunications provider is not required to pay any compensation
under Subsection (a) for a given calendar year if the provider
determines that the sum of the compensation due from the provider
and any member of the provider's affiliated group to all
municipalities in this state under Subsection (a) is less than the
sum of the fees due from the provider and any member of the
provider's affiliated group to all municipalities in this state
under Section 66.005, Utilities Code. The determination under this
subsection for a given year must be based on amounts actually paid,
or amounts that would have been paid notwithstanding this
subsection, during the 12-month period ending June 30 of the
immediately preceding calendar year by the provider and any member
of the provider's affiliated group. In the case of a conflict
between this subsection and Section 283.055, this subsection
prevails.
(e) Notwithstanding the aggregate amount of compensation or
fees paid in this state calculated under Subsection (d), Subsection
(d) does not exempt a certificated telecommunications provider from
paying compensation under Subsection (a) to a municipality if the
provider is not required to pay a fee authorized by Section 66.005,
Utilities Code, or another fee described in 47 U.S.C. Section
542(g), to that municipality. This subsection applies only to a
municipality described in this subsection and does not limit the
application of Subsection (d) to any other municipality.
(f) A certificated telecommunications provider shall file,
not later than October 1 of each year, an annual written
notification with each municipality in which the provider provides
telecommunications services of the provider's requirement to pay
compensation under Subsection (a) or exemption from the requirement
to pay compensation under Subsection (d) for the following calendar
year.
SECTION 2. Section 66.005, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
(d) In this subsection, "affiliated group" has the meaning
assigned by Section 171.0001, Tax Code. A holder of a state-issued
certificate of franchise authority is not subject to the fee
imposed under Subsection (a) for a given calendar year if the holder
determines that the sum of fees due from the holder and any member
of the holder's affiliated group to all municipalities in this
state under Subsection (a) is less than the sum of the compensation
due from the holder and any member of the holder's affiliated group
to all municipalities in this state under Section 283.051, Local
Government Code. The determination under this subsection for a
given year must be based on amounts actually paid, or amounts that
would have been paid notwithstanding this subsection, during the
12-month period ending June 30 of the immediately preceding
calendar year by the holder and any member of the holder's
affiliated group. In the case of a conflict between this subsection
and Section 283.055, Local Government Code, this subsection
prevails.
(e) Notwithstanding the aggregate amount of compensation or
fees paid in this state calculated under Subsection (d), Subsection
(d) does not exempt a holder of a state-issued certificate of
franchise authority from paying the fee imposed under Subsection
(a) to a municipality if the holder is not required to pay
compensation under Section 283.051, Local Government Code, to that
municipality. This subsection applies only to a municipality
described in this subsection and does not limit the application of
Subsection (d) to any other municipality. Nothing in this
subsection affects the application of Section 66.006 or 66.009 to
any holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise authority.
(f) A holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise
authority shall file, not later than October 1 of each year, an
annual written notification with each municipality in which the
holder provides cable or video services of the holder's requirement
to pay the fee under Subsection (a) or exemption from the
requirement to pay the fee under Subsection (d) for the following
calendar year.
SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
only to a payment made on or after January 1, 2020. A payment made
before January 1, 2020, is governed by the law in effect on the date
the payment was made, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) A determination of compensation or fees described by
Section 283.051(d), Local Government Code, as added by this Act, or
Section 66.005(d), Utilities Code, as added by this Act, for the
year 2020 must be based on amounts actually paid between July 1,
2018, and June 30, 2019.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.