BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1211
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1211 (Padilla)
As Amended May 27, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 14-0 GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION 16-0
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|Ayes:|Patterson, Bonilla, |Ayes:|Hall, Achadjian, Campos, |
| |Buchanan, Chávez, Dahle, | |Chesbro, Cooley, |
| |Fong, Beth Gaines, | |Dababneh, Gray, |
| |Garcia, Roger Hernández, | |Roger Hernández, Jones, |
| |Jones, Mullin, Quirk, | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, |
| |Rendon, Skinner | |Medina, |
| | | |V. Manuel Pérez, Salas, |
| | | |Waldron, Wilk |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |
| |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | |
| |Weber | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to
develop a plan and timeline for testing, implementation, and
operation of a Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) emergency
communication system throughout California, and also requires
OES to include NG9-1-1 costs in its annual calculation of the
9-1-1 surcharge rate. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the NG9-1-1 system to incorporate, where consistent
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with public safety and technologically feasible, shared
infrastructure and elements of other public safety and
emergency communications networks.
2)Requires OES, when annually determining the surcharge rate
needed to fund the fiscal year's 9-1-1 costs, to include
planning, testing, implementation, and operating costs
consistent with the established plan and timeline for the
NG9-1-1 system.
3)Requires OES, at least one month before finalizing the
surcharge rate, to report a calculation of the proposed 9-1-1
surcharge to the Legislature and the 9-1-1 Advisory Board and
also post it on its Internet Web site.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs of approximately $250,000 from the State
Emergency Telephone Number Account (SETNA) for two years for
OES to develop the plan and timeline (State Emergency
Telephone Number Account).
2)Increased cost pressures to implement Next Gen 911 estimated
to be $375 million during a five-year transition period, in
addition to $510 million to operate the current system (State
Emergency Telephone Number Account.)
3)Ongoing costs to operate the Next Gen 911 system are
anticipated to be higher than operating the current system due
to increased complexity (State Emergency Telephone Number
Account.)
4)Potential General Fund cost pressures resulting from a
structural imbalance in the State Emergency Telephone Number
Account.)
OES annually determines a customer surcharge rate on intrastate
voice communication services to provide sufficient revenues to
fund the 911 emergency system. State Emergency Telephone Number
Account (SETNA) revenues have been declining over the last eight
years because texting and other communication technologies have
been replacing intrastate voice service.
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OES raised the surcharge to the statutory cap of 0.75% last
October, but the revenue decline is continuing. Program costs
have exceeded revenues for several years, requiring additional
funds from reserves and a GF loan to cover costs.
Raising the maximum surcharge amount is unlikely to provide a
long-term solution due to the decline is use of intrastate phone
calls. The cost of developing a plan under this bill
and the ultimate implementation of Next Gen 911 will put
additional pressures on the SETNA. GF revenues may be necessary
to cover the costs of the 911 system if the larger
structural deficit issues with SETNA are not addressed.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose. According to the author, California's statewide 911
telephone system will be upgraded to enable texting to 911 as
an option for requesting emergency assistance.
This bill establishes a 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 with state and federal funds.
2)California's 9-1-1 System. The state's 9-1-1 system has been
in place since 1979, pursuant to the Warren-9-1-1-Emergency
Assistance Act of 1972. Within the Public Safety
Communications Office at OES, the 9-1-1 Emergency
Communications Branch is responsible for administration and
funding of equipment and network services related to routing
and answering of 9-1-1 calls at approximately 460 local
dispatch centers (Public Safety Answering Points - "PSAPs").
This office was transferred from the California Technology
Agency to OES in 2013 as part of budget action.
In 2013, 25.7 million 9-1-1 calls were placed in California
(more than 71,000/day), with about 75% from wireless devices.
Incoming calls from landline customers include automatic
number and location information, whereas calls from wireless
devices identify location by longitude and latitude (or by
cell tower location on some older systems).
3)The 9-1-1 surcharge. 9-1-1 services are funded by a surcharge
paid on every intrastate telephone communication and Voice
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over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone bill. As defined in
statute, the surcharge must be no less than 0.5% and no
greater than 0.75%, with the current 2014 calendar year
surcharge rate set at 0.75%. The surcharge is collected from
consumers by each telephone service supplier and remitted to
the State Board of Equalization, which deposits the funds into
the State Emergency Telephone Number Account.
SETNA's annual surcharge revenue has been declining - from
about $133 million in 2005-06 to about $80 million in 2012-13.
By increasing the surcharge to 0.75% in 2014 (the rate was
0.50% from 2007-2013), total revenue is projected to increase
to $108 million in 2014-15.
4)Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1). NG9-1-1 is an Internet
Protocol (IP)-based two-way communications system that will
allow digital information (such as voice, photos, videos, text
messages) to flow from the public through the 9-1-1 network
and on to emergency responders. NG9-1-1 will build upon, and
eventually replace, the existing 9-1-1 voice system that
operates on the legacy switched telephone network.
The transition to NG9-1-1 will require significant planning,
training, and funding (e.g., for PSAP upgrades to an IP-based
platform). The California Technology Agency (predecessor to
OES) published a proposed California NG9-1-1 Roadmap in
December 2010, broadly laying out the actions needed to deploy
NG9-1-1. Public stakeholder meetings were conducted in 2011,
and the 9-1-1 Branch is now in the midst of several pilot
projects.
Over the next five years, OES estimates the upgrade to NG9-1-1
may cost $375 million on top of the $110 million yearly costs
already needed to operate the existing 9-1-1 system. Due to a
50% margin of error in the current estimate, OES states it
will refine cost estimates upon completion of the pilot
projects in mid-2015.
5)NG911 planning already underway. Before the end of 2014, OES
intends to release a request for proposals (RFP) for system
needs and the development of a transition plan to NG9-1-1,
which include a detailed list of requirements and timelines.
This bill would require OES to "develop a plan and timeline
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for testing, implementation, and operation" of NG9-1-1. OES
is already undertaking these activities without statutory
obligations. Passage of this bill would make these tasks
mandatory.
6)Including NG9-1-1 costs in the calculation of surcharge rates.
This bill requires NG9-1-1 planning and implementation costs
to be considered during OES' calculation of the annual 9-1-1
surcharge. As mentioned previously, 9-1-1 program (SETNA)
revenue has been declining. It seems unlikely that, even at
the maximum allowable surcharge rate of 0.75%, OES will be
able to fund the current 9-1-1 operation and the transition to
NG9-1-1. However, addressing the larger structural deficit
issues with SETNA is beyond the scope of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Gaytan / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0004915