BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1211
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 25, 2014

                   ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
                                 Isadore Hall, Chair
                    SB 1211 (Padilla) - As Amended:  May 27, 2014

           SENATE VOTE  :   37-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Emergency Services: Next Generation 911.

           SUMMARY  :   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 services,  
          throughout California.  Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)Specifies that in order to maximize efficiency and contain  
            costs, the Next Gen 911 emergency communication system shall  
            incorporate shared infrastructure and elements of other public  
            safety and emergency communications networks, including, but  
            not limited to, all of the flowing:

             a)   Public safety communications identified in the annual  
               plan by the Public Safety Communications Divisions within  
               OES.

             b)   Local and regional public safety broadband networks  
               authorized by the federal American Recovery and  
               Reinvestment Act of 2009.

             c)   Public safety broadband networks authorized by the  
               federal Middle Class Tax relief and Job Creation Act of  
               2013.

             d)   Public safety radio and communications facilities used  
               for the purpose of public warnings.

          2)Requires OES, in determining the surcharge rate, to  
            additionally include costs it expects to incur, consistent  
            with the plan and timeline, to plan, test, implement, and  
            operate Next Gen 911 technology and services, including text  
            to 911 services.

          3)Requires OES, at least one month before determining the  
            surcharge rate, to prepare a summary of the calculation of the  








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            proposed surcharge and make it available to the Legislature  
            and the 911 Advisory Board, and on OES's Internet Web site.

           EXISTING LAW 

          1)Requires OES to administer the state's 911 emergency telephone  
            system, including local dispatch centers known as Public  
            Safety Answering Points (PSAP), with funds from a 911 customer  
            surcharge on intrastate communication service. 

          2)Requires OES to determine annually, on or before October 1, a  
            surcharge rate that it estimates will produce sufficient  
            revenue to fund the current fiscal year's 911 costs. The  
            surcharge cannot be greater than three-quarters of 1 percent  
            nor less than one-half of 1 percent.

          3)Establishes the State 9-1-1 Advisory Board to advise OES on  
            various topics, including but not limited to OES policies,  
            practices, and procedures; training; budget and funding; and  
            proposed projects and studies.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

           Purpose of the bill  :  According to the author, California's  
          statewide 911 telephone system is on the cusp of a major upgrade  
          to enable texting to 911 as a new additional option for  
          requesting assistance in an emergency.  Eventually, "Next Gen  
          911" infrastructure will enable real-time transmission of  
          emergency-related data, photos, and video between the public and  
          public safety agencies.  Texting to 911 enhances public safety  
          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. 

          SB 1211 establishes a transparent process for adjusting the  
          customer fee that funds the 911 system.  It also requires  
          coordinated planning of 911 upgrades, and shared infrastructure  
          where feasible, with other public safety communications networks  
          deployed in California with state and federal funds. 

           Current 911 system  : California's existing 911 system was  
          established pursuant to the Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act  








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          of 1976 and includes 458 PSAPs. A PSAP is a call center that is  
          responsible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number  
          for police, firefighting, and ambulance services. The PSAPs in  
          California receive about 25 million 911 voice calls per year, 75  
          percent of which are from wireless devices.  These calls are  
          dispatched to local first responders including police,  
          ambulance, fire, medical and other emergency service providers.  
          The Public Safety Communications Office within OES administers  
          the state 911 system.  In 2013, this office was transferred from  
          the California Technology Agency (CTA) to OES as part of the  
          2013-14 Budget Act.  

          The 911 program costs are paid from the State Emergency  
          Telephone Number Account (SETNA) funds, which are derived from a  
          statewide 911 surcharge on telephone customer bills. OES is  
          required to determine the surcharge rate annually up to a  
          statutory maximum of 0.75 percent of intrastate service charges.  
          The SETNA 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 911  : 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. 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  
          911 system. OES states that this is an estimated $375 million  
          additional investment over five years on top of the $510 million  
          to operate the existing system over that same five years.  

          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 (SMS) texting  








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          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. 

          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 SMS 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 a voice call instead.

           Arguments in support  :  The California Ambulance Association  
          writes in support of the bill stating that efficient, effective  
          emergency dispatch is essential to ensuring that our communities  
          receive the highest quality emergency medical response.  Next  
          Gen 911 will enable the public to make voice, text, or video  
          emergency requests for assistance from any communications  
          device.  Additionally, public safety answering points will be  
          able to receive emergency data from personal safety devices such  
          as automatic collision notification systems and medical alert  
          systems. 

          The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal  
          Employees, AFL-CIO, states that this bill would significantly  
          improve the safety of Californians by integrating new emergency  
          response technologies, such as the Next Gen 911 emergency  
          communication system.  Improvements would include a text to 911  
          service which would greatly enhance the efficiency of emergency  
          responders. 

           Double-referral  : SB 1211 was previously heard in the Assembly  
          Utilities and Commerce Committee where it successfully passed  
          with a vote of 14 to 0.









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           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 

           American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,  
          AFL-CIO
          AT&T
          California Ambulance Association
          California Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association
          California Communications Association
          California's Independent Telecommunications Companies
          California Police Chiefs Association
          Frontier Communications
          Office of Ratepayer Advocates
          SPRINT
          The Utility Reform Network
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Felipe Lopez / G. O. / (916) 319-2531