STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1203--B
Cal. No. 292
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, HINCHEY, KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy
and Telecommunications -- recommitted to the Committee on Energy and
Telecommunications in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading -- again amended and
ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing a
moratorium prohibiting certain broadband terminations or discon-
nections during a state disaster emergency
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 399-zzzzzz to read as follows:
3 § 399-zzzzzz. Prohibition of certain broadband terminations or discon-
4 nections. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
5 have the following meanings:
6 (a) "broadband internet access service" shall mean a mass-market
7 retail service that provides the capability to transmit data to and
8 receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including
9 any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the
10 communications service, and shall include service provided by commercial
11 mobile telephone service providers, but shall not include dial-up inter-
12 net service; and
13 (b) "covered telephone corporation" means a "telephone corporation" as
14 defined in subdivision seventeen of section two of the public service
15 law that provided telephone exchange service on or before February
16 eighth, nineteen hundred ninety-six.
17 2. No covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide
18 broadband internet access service in New York state shall terminate or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04534-04-4
S. 1203--B 2
1 disconnect services provided over their infrastructure to a residential
2 service customer or a small business customer with twenty-five or fewer
3 employees that is not a (i) publicly held company, or a subsidiary ther-
4 eof, (ii) seasonal, short-term, or temporary customer, or (iii) customer
5 that the broadband internet access service provider can demonstrate has
6 the resources to pay the bill, provided that the broadband service
7 provider notifies the small business customer of its reasons and of the
8 customer's right to contest this determination through the commission's
9 complaint procedures, for the non-payment of an overdue charge for the
10 duration of a state disaster emergency declared pursuant to section
11 twenty-eight of the executive law in response to a state, national, or
12 global event that is deemed to result in a significant negative and
13 long-term impact on the state's economic future. Such covered telephone
14 corporations shall have a duty to restore service, to the extent not
15 already required, at the request of any residential or small business
16 customer within forty-eight hours if such service has been terminated
17 during the pendency of the state disaster emergency and disconnection of
18 such service was due to non-payment of an overdue charge.
19 3. No covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide
20 broadband internet access service in New York state shall terminate or
21 disconnect services provided over their infrastructure to a residential
22 or small business customer account because of defaulted deferred payment
23 agreements or arrears then owed to such covered telephone corporations
24 when such customer has experienced a change in financial circumstances
25 due to a state disaster emergency as set forth in subdivision two of
26 this section. The covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to
27 provide broadband internet access service in New York state shall
28 provide such residential or small business customer with the right to
29 enter into, or restructure, a deferred payment agreement consistent with
30 the provisions of article two of the public service law without the
31 requirement of a down payment, late fees, or penalties, with such prohi-
32 bition on down payments, late fees, or penalties applicable to all
33 arrears incurred during the duration of the state disaster emergency.
34 4. Every covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide
35 broadband internet access service in New York state shall provide notice
36 to residential or small business customers in a writing to be included
37 with a bill statement or, when appropriate, via electronic transmission
38 the provisions of this section and shall further make reasonable efforts
39 to contact customers who have certified a change in financial circum-
40 stances due to a state disaster emergency as set forth in subdivision
41 two of this section for the purpose of offering such customers a
42 deferred payment agreement consistent with the provisions of article two
43 of the public service law.
44 5. Implementation of the provisions of this section shall not prohibit
45 a covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide broad-
46 band internet access service in New York state from recovering lost or
47 deferred revenues after the lifting or expiration of a state disaster
48 emergency as set forth in subdivision two of this section, pursuant to
49 such means for recovery by means not inconsistent with any of the
50 provisions of this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a
51 covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide broadband
52 internet access service in New York state from disconnecting service at
53 the request of a customer. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a
54 covered telephone corporation providing or seeking to provide broadband
55 internet access service in New York state from disconnecting service
56 when it is necessary to protect the health and safety of customers and
S. 1203--B 3
1 the public, provided however the customer may contest the service
2 disconnection through a process to be created by the company.
3 6. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application
4 may be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of the
5 state of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction by a special
6 proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of
7 not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such
8 violation; and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or
9 justice that the defendant has, in fact, violated this section, an
10 injunction may be issued by the court or justice, enjoining and
11 restraining any further violations, without requiring proof that any
12 person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. In any such
13 proceeding, the court may make allowances to the attorney general as
14 provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section eighty-three
15 hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct restitu-
16 tion. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of this
17 section has occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more
18 than one thousand dollars per violation. In connection with any such
19 proposed application, the attorney general is authorized to take proof
20 and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in
21 accordance with the civil practice law and rules.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
23 this act shall be applicable to relevant executive orders issued on or
24 after the effective date of this act.