FORTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE

FIRST SESSION, 2007

February 23, 2007

Mr. Speaker:

    Your APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, to whom has been referred

HOUSE BILL 538, as amended

has had it under consideration and reports same with recommendation that it DO PASS, amended as follows:

     1. Strike House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Amendments 1 through 9 and 13.

     2. On page 1, line 22, strike "Subsections C, D and F" and insert in lieu thereof "Subsection C".

     3. On page 2, line 1, strike the comma and the colon, strike lines 2 through 20 in their entirety and insert in lieu thereof:

"the customer meets the qualifications to receive assistance pursuant to the low-income home energy assistance program from the administering authority during the program's current heating season.

          B. The utility shall make the following payment plan options available to the customer to pay the remaining balance of utility charges owed by the customer for the prior heating season:

                (1) a plan in which the customer agrees to pay:

                     (a) a minimum of twenty-five percent of the customer's current charges for each month during the heating season in addition to assistance provided by the low-income home energy assistance program that has been applied to the customer's utility bill; and

                     (b) past due charges in monthly installments in addition to the current charges due, based on a monthly payment plan entered into with the utility; or".

     4. On page 2, line 21, strike the subparagraph designation "(b)" and insert in lieu thereof the paragraph designation "(2)" and on line 22, after "utility" insert a comma and after "commission" insert a comma.

     5. On page 2, strike line 25 in its entirety and on page 3, strike lines 1 through 12 in their entirety and insert the following:

          "C. If the customer does not pay the past due charges from the customer's utility bill".

     6. On page 4, strike lines 3 through 9 in their entirety.

     7. Reletter the succeeding subsections accordingly.