BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1197
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1197 (Torrico) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 14 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill modifies the Public Safety Communication Act to allow
additional technology to be considered for improved public
safety interoperability. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Public Safety Radio Strategic Planning Committee
(PSRSPC) to ensure that its recommendations for radio or other
technology are compatible with recommendations and standards
established by the United States Department of Homeland
Security or the Federal Communications Commission, or both.
2)Replaces PRSPC with the California Emergency Management Agency
(Cal EMA) as the responsible entity authorized to make
recommendations to any other federal, state, regional, or
local entities with the responsibility for developing,
operating, or monitoring interoperability of the pubic safety
spectrum.
3)Redefines "backward capability" to mean that equipment or
systems purchased are able to function with prior versions of
the equipment or systems.
4)Creates a definition for "standards based equipment or
systems" and replaces references to "nonproprietary equipment
or systems" with "standards based equipment or systems."
FISCAL EFFECT
Significant costs of several hundred thousand dollars as this
bill requires redoing work that the PSRSPC committee and the
AB 1197
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California Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee have
done over the last few years.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The ability of local, regional and state public
safety agencies to communicate with each other during an
emergency has been a concern of the Legislature for several
years. This bill is intended to further assist in those
efforts by taking into account new federal rules and advancing
technology by allowing for various types of technological
solutions, such as Internet Protocol (IP)-based systems, to be
considered for improved interoperability.
2)Background . The Public Safety Communication Act of 2002 was
enacted to provide state, regional and local agencies with the
means to better communicate with one another in the event of
an emergency. During an emergency, the interoperability of
communication systems is vital for responding public safety
departments to coordinate their resources and work effectively
together. Conversely, if the communications were to fail, the
emergency could be met with breakdowns in service,
misunderstandings, lack of information, and the possible loss
of life and property.
To prevent potential breakdowns, AB 2116 (Cohn, Chapter 903,
Statutes of 2006) was signed into law to improve upon the Act.
While the PSRSPC had the primary responsibility for developing
and implementing a statewide radio system that allows for
interoperability among all of the state's public safety
departments, it did not have the authority to make
recommendations to local agencies or to require them to
purchase certain types of equipment. Without specific
recommendations, public agencies could be purchasing new
communications that were not compatible and would do nothing
to promote interoperability between agencies. AB 2116
corrected this problem by granting the PSRSPC with the
necessary authority to ensure interoperability and requiring
that any communication equipment recommended for purchase by
the PRSPC meet specific criteria for interoperability.
3)Related Legislation . In 2008, AB 2185 (Torrico), a
substantially similar bill, was held on this committee's
suspense file.
AB 1197
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Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081