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91_HR0556enr HR0556 Enrolled LRB9112849KBkb 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION 556 2 WHEREAS, Universally available and widely affordable 3 telecommunications services are essential to the health, 4 welfare and prosperity of all Illinois citizens; and 5 WHEREAS, Federal regulatory and judicial rulings in the 6 1980s caused a restructuring of the telecommunications 7 industry and opened some aspects of the industry to 8 competitive entry, thereby necessitating revision of State 9 telecommunications regulatory policies and practices; and 10 WHEREAS Revisions in telecommunications regulatory 11 policies and practices in Illinois beginning in the mid-1980s 12 brought the benefits of competition to consumers in many 13 telecommunications markets, but not in local exchange 14 telecommunications service markets; and 15 WHEREAS, The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 16 established the goal of opening all telecommunications 17 service markets to competition and accords to the states the 18 responsibility to establish and enforce policies necessary to 19 attain that goal; and 20 WHEREAS, It is in the immediate interest of the People of 21 the State of Illinois for the State to exercise its rights 22 within the new framework of federal telecommunications policy 23 to ensure that the economic benefits of competition in all 24 telecommunications service markets are realized as 25 effectively as possible; and 26 WHEREAS, The competitive offering of all 27 telecommunications services will increase innovation and 28 efficiency in the provision of telecommunications services 29 and may lead to reduced prices for consumers, increased 30 investment in communications infrastructure, the creation of 31 new jobs, and the attraction of new businesses to Illinois; HR0556 Enrolled -2- LRB9112849KBkb 1 and 2 WHEREAS, Protection of the public interest requires 3 changes in the regulation of telecommunications carriers and 4 services to ensure, to the maximum feasible extent, the 5 reasonable and timely development of effective competition in 6 all telecommunications service markets; and 7 WHEREAS, The provisions of the Telecommunications Article 8 (XIII) of the Public Utilities Act will be repealed on July 9 1, 2001; therefore, be it 10 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 11 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 12 there is created the Special House Committee on 13 Telecommunications Review, which shall consist of fourteen 14 Representatives, with seven members appointed by the Speaker 15 and seven members appointed by the Minority Leader; the 16 Speaker shall appoint a co-chairperson from the majority 17 party, and the Minority Leader shall appoint a co-chairperson 18 from the minority party; the Special House Committee on 19 Telecommunication Review is empowered to conduct business 20 when a majority of the committee members have been appointed; 21 and be it further 22 RESOLVED, That this committee shall have the authority 23 granted to other special committees of the House of 24 Representatives.