BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
424 (Torres)
Hearing Date: 08/12/2010 Amended: 06/22/2010
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EU&C 8-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 424 requires the Office of the Chief
Information Officer to develop and implement a public education
campaign regarding appropriate and inappropriate uses of the 911
emergency telephone system.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Education campaign $920 $1,373 $1,373 Special
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* State Emergency Telephone Number Account.
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STAFF COMMENTS: Suspense File.
Under current law, local governments (and the California Highway
Patrol) respond to calls made to the 911 emergency telephone
system. The state Office of the Chief Information Officer is
required to oversee the development and operation of the system.
California residents pay a surcharge based on the amount paid
for all intrastate telephone calls. The surcharge is set by the
Department of General Services, and must be between 0.5 percent
and 0.75 percent of the billed amount. (Currently, the surcharge
is set at 0.5 percent.) Revenues generated from the surcharge
are used to pay for state oversight costs, paying for 911
database and networks costs, local government equipment costs,
and local public education campaigns.
AB 424 requires the Office of the Chief Information Officer to
develop and implement a public education campaign to instruct
the public on appropriate and inappropriate uses of the 911
system. The bill sets out several subject areas that the
campaign may include, such as the difference between emergency
calls and non-emergency calls, information that callers should
provide to 911 dispatchers, and education specifically directed
towards children.
The bill specifies that the costs of the campaign are to be
considered allowable administrative costs of the 911 surcharge.
The Office of the Chief Information Officer estimates that the
bill will require about $750,000 in one-time costs to design the
campaign, about $1.2 million per year in advertising costs, and
about $170,000 per year in staff costs to oversee the campaign.
Staff notes that while the State Emergency Telephone Number
Account has a projected fund balance of over $100 million, the
account also has a structural deficit of about $15 million per
year.