STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8110--B
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 4, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENJAMIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CLARK,
WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations,
Authorities and Commissions -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
recommitted to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commis-
sions in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to providing tele-
phone equipment with voice dialing functions to certain persons with
disabilities
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-zz-1 to read as follows:
3 § 399-zz-1. Residential voice dialing telephone equipment. 1. For the
4 purposes of this section: (a) "voice dialing telephone equipment" shall
5 mean customer premises equipment such as telephone handsets, designed
6 for use on the residential premises of a visually-impaired person to
7 originate, route or terminate a telephone call;
8 (b) "Consumer" or "purchaser" shall mean: (i) a certified visually-im-
9 paired retail customer who purchases such equipment for personal use in
10 a place of residence where the addition of such equipment is necessary
11 to enable such consumer to make a telephone call and that (ii) meets the
12 income eligibility requirements for the New York lifeline program; and
13 (c) "Seller" shall mean any retailer, distributor or manufacturer who
14 sells or offers for sale residential voice dialing telephone equipment
15 directly to a consumer or purchaser or places in the chain of distrib-
16 ution such equipment to be ultimately sold to a consumer.
17 2. Any manufacturer of residential voice dialing telephone equipment
18 shall offer for sale such equipment to consumers, as defined in this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03912-05-0
A. 8110--B 2
1 section, at an amount not to exceed the actual cost of manufacturing the
2 equipment.
3 § 2. Every telephone corporation, as defined in section 2 of the
4 public service law, and every cable television company, as defined in
5 section 212 of public service law and any other provider of telephone
6 service that provides telephone service to customers in New York state
7 shall provide notice to its customers that voice dialing telephone
8 equipment is available from manufacturers at cost.
9 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
10 it shall have become a law.
