BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1211|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1211
Author: Padilla (D)
Amended: 5/27/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUNICATIONS COMM : 9-0, 4/1/14
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Cannella, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hill,
Knight, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, De León
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/24/14
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Liu, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Emergency services: Next Generation 911
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Office of Emergency Services
(OES) to develop a plan and timeline of target dates for
testing, implementing, and operating a Next Generation 911(Next
Gen 911) emergency communication system, including text to 911
service, throughout California, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires OES to administer the state's 911 emergency telephone
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system, including local dispatch centers known as Public
Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), with funds from a 911
customer surcharge on intrastate communication service.
2.Requires OES to determine annually, on or before October 1,
the customer surcharge rate to fund the subsequent year's
costs of the state 911 system.
Current decisions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
establish May 15, 2014, as the date for large wireless service
providers to enable customers to text to 911 to any PSAP that is
"technically ready" and require carriers to send a "bounce-back"
message if the PSAP is not ready to receive texts.
Current federal law designates up to $7 billion from FCC
spectrum auctions to fund a nationwide public safety broadband
network known as FirstNet and directs that this network
integrate 911 PSAPs.
This bill:
1.Requires that the OES plan for deploying Next Gen 911
incorporate, where consistent with public safety and
technologically feasible, shared infrastructure and elements
of FirstNet and other public safety communications networks
that receive state and federal funding.
2.Requires OES, at least one month before finalizing the 911
surcharge rate, to prepare a summary of the calculation of the
proposed surcharge, include the costs it expects to incur
consistent with the plan to deploy text to 911 and Next Gen
911, and make this information available to the Legislature
and the 911 Advisory Board, and on the office's Internet Web
site.
Background
OES Administers Statewide 911 System . California's existing 911
system, established pursuant to the Warren 911 Emergency
Assistance Act of 1976, includes 458 PSAPs that receive about 25
million 911 voice calls per year. These calls are dispatched to
local first responders including police, ambulance, fire,
medical and other emergency service providers. About 75 percent
of all 911 calls are from wireless devices.
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The Public Safety Communications Office within OES administers
the state 911 system, reviews local PSAPs' 911 equipment and
operations, and reimburses their reasonable costs for planning,
implementation, and maintenance of approved 911 systems. In
2013, this office was transferred from the California Technology
Agency to OES as part of budget action. The California
Emergency Number Association represents the state's PSAPs and
provides research, planning, and training to support 911
dispatchers and the state 911 system. A state 911 Advisory Board
advises OES on operation, funding, and long-range planning for
PSAPs and the state 911 system.
911 Funded By Customer Surcharge . The 911 program costs are
paid from the State Emergency Telephone Number Account funds,
which are derived from a statewide 911 surcharge on telephone
customer bills, including landline, wireless and Voice over
Internet Protocol services. OES is required to determine the
surcharge rate annually up to a statutory maximum of 0.75
percent of intrastate service charges. The State Emergency
Telephone Number Account has been in a structural deficit for
years, with annual surcharge revenue declining from about $133
million in 2005-06 to about $80 million in 2012-13. The rate
was set at 0.50 percent from 2007 through 2013, but in October
OES increased the surcharge to 0.75 percent effective January 1,
2014, with projected total revenue of $108 million for 2014-15.
Next Gen 911Planning Underway . Next Gen 911 refers to an
Internet Protocol (IP)-based, two-way communications system that
will enable real-time transmission of emergency-related voice,
text, data, photos, and video between the public and public
safety agencies. Next Gen 911 will build upon, and eventually
replace, the existing 911 voice system that operates on the
legacy switched telephone network. Implementing Next Gen 911
will require substantial funding for PSAP upgrades to an
IP-based platform. OES (the California Technology Agency prior
to July 2013) published a roadmap in 2010, conducted public
stakeholder meetings in 2011, and now is conducting several
pilot projects with vendors and PSAPs. A "Rough Order Magnitude
Cost Estimate" reported in 2013 was $885 million for total
hardware and software costs to deploy conceptual Next Gen 911
design while also running the existing 9-1-1 system. OES states
that this is an estimated $375 million additional investment
over five years on top of the $510 million to operate the
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existing system over that same five years. But, because of a 50
percent margin of error in that estimate, OES states that it
will have refined cost estimates at the completion of the pilot
projects in mid-2015.
Text to 911 Requires PSAP Readiness . No later than May 15,
2014, the four major wireless carriers, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint,
and T-Mobile, will offer all subscribers the ability to text to
911, pursuant to a voluntary commitment to the FCC. A proposed
FCC rule would require all wireless and Internet-based text
providers to offer text-to-911 capability by December 31, 2014.
Short Message Service texting technology is an acceptable
interim solution prior to full deployment of Next Gen 911
infrastructure. While a voice call to 911 is still preferred,
text to 911 offers public safety advantages for persons with
disabilities, in a hostage situation or home break-in when a
voice call can be dangerous, and when network congestion from
high usage during a crisis makes voice connections unavailable
or slow.
But despite these 2014 carrier obligations, text to 911 will not
be fully operational until PSAPs are "technically ready" and
authorized by a state or local 911 agency to receive 911 text
messages. PSAPs require equipment upgrades, and likely
additional staff and training. As stated by FCC Chairman
Wheeler:
"Of course, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
Providers will deliver the information, but it will mean
little if PSAPs and state and local governments do not take
the necessary steps ? to ensure that PSAPs have sufficient
funding to deploy the necessary technologies and,
ultimately, make the migration to NG911."
To date, OES has not specified plans to fund PSAP upgrades to
receive texts, but reports that it is conducting pilots to
verify the operation of each form of text to provide the PSAPs
with a basis to determine which, if any, form of text they want
to receive. (OES also reports that all PSAPs currently have the
ability to receive Short Message Service to teletype texts,
devices used by the hearing-impaired.) In the meantime,
carriers currently are required to send a "bounce-back"
auto-reply message to alert subscribers who attempt to text to
911 that the service is not available and that they should place
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a voice call instead.
Comments
According to the author, this bill will enhance public safety
and achieve costs savings in two ways. First, it will increase
transparency and accountability for establishing the state 911
surcharge, which will help ensure that the fee is adequate to
fund upgrades necessary for text to 911 and Next Gen 911. The
bill does not increase the surcharge. Second, it requires
coordinated planning of Next Gen 911 infrastructure with
FirstNet and other public safety communications systems, which
will help leverage federal funds and achieve maximum efficiency
through shared infrastructure where technologically feasible and
consistent with public safety.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time costs
of approximately $250,000 from the State Emergency Telephone
Number Account (special)/General Fund for two years to develop a
plan and timeline for the deployment of a Next Gen 911 system.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/27/14)
AT&T
California's Independent Telecommunications Companies
California Police Chiefs Association
CALNENA
Frontier
Office of Ratepayer Advoates
The Utility Reform Network
Sprint
Verizon
JG:nl 5/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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