HBA-TYH H.B. 3723 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3723 By: Bailey State Affairs 4/8/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Deregulation of the telecommunications industry has brought about an increasingly competitive environment and significantly increased the number of mergers by telecommunications companies. Such mergers often have far-reaching implications for residential consumers as well as large and small businesses in Texas. However, under current law, telecommunications utilities are not required to report mergers to the Public Utility Commission (commission), and the commission has no authority to consider the effect of such mergers in its ratemaking proceedings. This lack of authority to negotiate or require merger benefits for Texas citizens put the state at a disadvantage. H.B. 3723 requires telecommunication companies to report mergers to the commission and authorizes the commission to investigate such mergers and negotiate for consumer benefits. 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 51.010(c), Utilities Code, to delete a telecommunications company from those entities to which Section 14.101 (Report of Certain Transactions; Commission Consideration) does not apply. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.