Moore Universal Telephone Service Act.

The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act established the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) program in order to provide low-income households with access to affordable basic residential telephone service. This bill would replace the definition of "residential" in the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act with a definition of "household" and would make conforming changes. Existing law requires that a lifeline telephone service subscriber be provided with one single party line at his or her principal place of residence. This bill would instead require that a lifeline telephone service subscriber be provided with one lifeline subscription, as defined by the commission, at his or her principal place of residence. Existing law makes any public utility, as defined, and any corporation other than a public utility, that violates the Public Utilities Act, or that fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, guilty of a crime. Because the provisions of this bill are within the act and require action by the commission to implement its requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.