BILL ANALYSIS 1
1
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 424 - Torres Hearing Date: June 15,
2010 A
As Amended: January 13, 2010 FISCAL
B
4
2
4
DESCRIPTION
Current law requires every local public agency to establish and
operate an emergency telephone system using the digits 911 and
requires the Office of the State Chief Information Officer
(OCIO) to oversee the development and operation of the system
statewide.
This bill would require the OCIO to develop and implement a
public education campaign to instruct the public on appropriate
and inappropriate uses of the 911 emergency telephone number
system.
This bill provides that this public education campaign may
include programs to help the public distinguish emergencies that
require a 911 call from nonemergencies and other specified
programs.
Current law provides for collecting a 911 fee from telephone
customers and deposit of those funds in the State Emergency
Telephone Number Account in the State Treasury to be used for
purposes that include paying the costs incurred by the OCIO to
administer the 911 emergency telephone number system.
This bill provides that the costs to develop and implement the
911 public education campaign shall be costs of administering
the system.
BACKGROUND
The Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act requires every local
public agency to establish and operate an emergency telephone
system using the digits 911. The purpose of the Act is to
ensure an efficient statewide system for delivery of 911 calls
to the appropriate local agency Public Safety Answering Points
(PSAPs) that answer and respond to requests for emergency
assistance. The Act also authorizes the state to oversee the
development and operation of the 911 system. As a result of a
2009 Governor's Information Technology Reorganization Plan,
these state-level duties are the responsibility of the State of
California 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Office (State 911
Office) within the OCIO.
Funding for the State 911 Office is from a surcharge collected
from customers of California landline, wireless, and VoIP
service providers as a percentage (one-half to three-quarters of
1 percent) of intrastate calling costs. These fees are
deposited into the State Emergency Telephone Number Account
(SETNA) in the state Treasury. Other uses of these funds
include paying for 911 telephone network and database services,
call taking equipment at each PSAP, and other PSAP 911 special
projects, including local public education campaigns related to
911 telephone service.
According to the California 911 Strategic Plan dated July 27,
2009, the state's 911 system faces special challenges as a
result of the rapid expansion of wireless telephone service.
The CPUC reports that the total number of landline access lines
in California has decreased from 24.77 million in 2001 to 20.25
million in 2008. The number of wireless telephone subscribers
in California has grown from 14.18 million in 2001 to 31.7
million in 2008. According to the 911 Strategic Plan:
Californians place about 25 million 911 calls annually,
and two-thirds of those calls are from wireless telephones.
Most 911 calls from wireless telephones are routed first
to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) rather than directly
to a local PSAP, but CHP has substantially fewer call
answering workstations, resulting in wireless 911 callers
facing frequent busy signals, excessively long wait times,
a high level of abandoned calls, and delayed response to
emergencies.
Calls from wireless telephones do not include location
information with the same accuracy as landline telephones,
leading to a delay in routing calls to the PSAP closest to
the site of the emergency.
COMMENTS
Author's Purpose - According to the author, who has 18 years of
experience as a 911 dispatcher, the purpose of this bill is to
improve the ability of the public to make informed and effective
use of the 911 telephone system and thereby improve public
agency response to emergencies. The author states that experts
believe up to 80 percent of 911 calls may not involve genuine
emergencies, these non-emergency calls overburden the 911
system, and PSAP performance could be improved with better
public understanding of when and how to make a 911 call.
The Wireless Challenge - The legislative findings in this bill
cite the "multiple challenges" facing California's 911 emergency
response system, including "rapidly evolving communications
technologies." The bill requires a public education campaign
about the 911 emergency telephone number system and identifies
specific topics that "may" be included in this campaign but does
not specifically mention an education program about wireless 911
service. As identified in the California 911 Strategic Plan,
wireless 911 calls pose unique challenges relating to caller
location, call routing, and emergency response time. In order
to give appropriate emphasis to wireless 911 issues, the author
may wish to consider amending the bill to include on the list of
topics that may be included in the 911 public education campaign
an education program designed to help members of the public
understand the unique challenges of wireless 911 calls,
including the need for callers to be prepared to provide
location information.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (46-24)
Assembly Appropriations (12-5)
Assembly Business, Professions & ( 7- 4)
Consumer Protection
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
AT&T
California Professional Firefighters
Oppose:
None on file.
Jackie Kinney
AB 424 Analysis
Hearing Date: June 15, 2010