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Bluestem Telephone Co. v. Kansas Corp. Commission4/8/2005
of 66-2008(e), when construed with other subsections of the section, was ambiguous requiring consideration of legislative history.
The trouble with this argument is that we are bound to implement the intent as it is expressed in the statute itself:
"An appellate court may consider various aspects of the statute in attempting to determine the legislative intent. The court must first look at the intent as expressed in the language of the statute. When the language is plain and unambiguous, an appellate court is bound to implement the expressed intent. [Citation omitted.] Ordinary words are to be given their ordinary meanings without adding something that is not readily found in the statute or eliminating that which is readily found therein. [Citation omitted.]" (Emphasis added.) State v. Manbeck, 277 Kan. 224, 227, 83 P.3d 190 (2004) (interpreting statute involving the driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs to mean what it said; declining to interpret the "and" to be an "or").
We see no reason to examine the legislative history when the meaning of the passage is so clear.
The Commission also contends that its interpretation of 66-2008(e) is more consistent with subsections (b), (d), and (f) of that statute. Subsection (b) simply requires KUSF distributions to be made in a "competitively neutral manner." In its order, however, the Commission concluded that paying ETCs that enter the market the same KUSF amount paid to the incumbent LECs was competitively neutral in that it rewarded the ETCs if they were more efficient and innovative. Thus, the "competitively neutral" view the Commission adopted in its own order focused paying the ETCs the same amount LECs received. Based on the Commission's own order, how the LECs' payments were calculated was not relevant to the competitively neutral standard.
The Commission also argues that subsection (d)'s mechanism to allow LECs to obtain adjustments to KUSF if they increase the number of their access lines reflects that a complete calculation of costs would not be necessary for all KUSF adjustments. Subsection (d) allows qualified telecommunications carriers to request supplemental funding based upon an increase in access lines over the prior year and various other reasons specified by the statute; simplified filing procedures are allowed for this process. Subsection (d) simply establishes (1) events that can trigger the right to request additional funding and (2) identifies the simplified process through which such a request may be made. Similarly, subsection (f) simply gives the Commission the authority to allow additional supplemental funding in the agency's discretion; such a request may be subjected to the filing of a general rate case.
An administrative agency only has the authority granted to it by the legislature. To be valid, administrative agency rulings must be within the statutory authority conferred upon the agency and must be appropriate, reasonable, and not inconsistent with the law. Those actions that go beyond the statutory authorization violate the statute or are inconsistent with the statutory powers of the agency are void. In re Tax Appeal of City of Wichita, 277 Kan. 487, 495, 86 P.3d 513 (2004). Even though the Commission's decision was otherwise reasonable, the restrictions of K.S.A. 66-2008(e) limit the Commission's authority when ordering adjustments to a rural LEC's KUSF support.
For these reasons, the Commission's arguments on appeal about the evidence in the record supporting the reasonableness of the per-line adjustment and public policy concerns do not need to be addressed.
Carriers of Last Resort and Embedded Costs
The di
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