Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1419-A, sub-§6 is enacted to read:

6.__Emergency alert telecommunications service.__A person who has been certified by the Division of Deafness as being deaf or hard-of-hearing and has an income of less than 135% of the federal poverty level must receive a discount of up to $10 per month in the service charge for any wireless communications device or 2-way pager that is used to receive emergency alerts issued by any state or federal agency.__Such a person must receive a $10 discount except when the service charge for the wireless communications device or 2-way pager is less than $10 per month, in which case the person must receive a discount equal to the service charge for the wireless communications device or 2-way pager.__A company required to provide the discount is entitled to recover amounts discounted from the Communications Equipment Fund established in subsection 2.__The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services shall adopt rules to establish the process for certifying eligibility with the Division of Deafness and for the process to be used by wireless and paging companies in recovering discounted revenue from the Communications Equipment Fund.__Administrative costs associated with implementing this subsection may be paid from funds provided to the Communications Equipment Fund for the purposes of this subsection pursuant to Title 35-A, section 7104.__Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 3. 35-A MRSA §7104, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 553, Pt. A, §4, is amended to read:

5. Funds for Communications Equipment Fund. The commission shall annually transfer $85,000 from a state universal service fund established pursuant to this section to the Communications Equipment Fund established under Title 26, section 1419-A. In addition to its authority under subsection 3, the commission may require contributions to the state universal service fund in an amount sufficient to collect the $85,000.

If the Department of Labor, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services does not receive from federal or other sources funds in addition to the $85,000 sufficient to carry out the purposes of Title 26, section 1419-A, the commission, at the request of the Department of Labor, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, may transfer from the state universal service fund to the Communications Equipment Fund an additional amounts as long as: $37,500.