BILL ANALYSIS � 1
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 2281 - Torres Hearing Date:
June 11, 2012 A
As Amended: May 14, 2012 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law establishes the Public Safety Communications Office
(Office), formerly the Public Safety Communications Division,
within the California Technology Agency to administer the state
911 emergency telephone system with funding from the State
Emergency Telephone Network Account (SETNA) derived from a
surcharge on telephone customers.
Current law requires local public agencies to establish and
operate a 911 system and requires the Office to reimburse the
local agencies with SETNA funds for the reasonable costs for
planning, implementation and maintenance of those systems.
Current law establishes the State 911 Advisory Board with
specified members appointed by the Governor and requires the
board to advise the Office on policies and procedures for the
Office, technical and operational standards for the 911 system,
training standards for county coordinators and public safety
answering point (PSAP) managers, the SETNA budget and
reimbursement decisions, and rollout of advanced 911
technologies.
Current law also requires the Board, upon request of a local
public agency, to conduct a hearing on any conflict between that
agency and the Office regarding a 911 plan and make a
recommendation for resolving the conflict.
This bill would add to the Board one member appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly and one member appointed by the Chair of
the Senate Rules Committee.
Current law provides that any member of the Board may designate
any other person to attend meetings and act as that member for
all purposes.
This bill would delete the provision allowing a member of the
Board to designate a substitute.
BACKGROUND
The Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act - In 1976, the Warren
911 Emergency Assistance Act was enacted in order to reduce the
time required for a citizen to request and receive emergency
aid. The Act gave Department of General Services (DGS) oversight
responsibilities for the state's 911 system and required local
public agencies to establish 911 systems. The Office reviews and
approves local public agencies' 911 systems and reimburses their
reasonable costs for planning, implementation, and maintenance
of approved 911 systems.
Program costs are generally paid with SETNA funds, which are
derived from a statewide 911 surcharge on telephone customer
bills. The surcharge is statutorily capped at 0.75 percent of
charges for intrastate service and currently is set at the
statutory minimum at 0.50 percent.
Responsibility for administering the state's 911 system was
transferred from DGS to the Office of the State Chief
Information Officer in 2009. This office was renamed the
California Technology Agency by AB 2408 (Smyth, 2010), and 911
duties now reside in the Public Safety Communications Office
within that agency. The Governor has proposed reorganizing the
California Technology Agency.
911 Advisory Board - A state 911 Advisory Board was created in
2003 and includes 11 members, with the Chief of the Office as
the nonvoting chair and the following voting members:
One representative from the Department of the California
Highway Patrol;
Two representatives on the recommendation of the
California Police Chiefs Association;
Two representatives on the recommendation of the
California State Sheriffs' Association;
Two representatives on the recommendation of the
California Fire Chiefs Association;
Two representatives on the recommendation of the CalNENA
Executive Board; and
One representative on the joint recommendation of the
executive boards of the state chapters of the Association
of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International,
Inc.
Current law provides that the recommended members should have at
least two years of experience as a PSAP manager or county
coordinator. All Board members serve at the pleasure of the
Governor for two-year terms and are limited to two consecutive
terms. The Board is required to meet at least quarterly in open
session. Board members are not paid but may be reimbursed for
travel and per diem.
Section 53115.2 of the Government Code assigns the Board two
duties. Subdivision (a) of that section requires the Board to
advise the Office on policies and procedures, technical and
operational standards for the 911 system, training standards for
county coordinators and public safety answering point (PSAP)
managers, the SETNA budget and local agency reimbursement
decisions, and rollout of Enhanced 911 technology. Subdivision
(b) of that section requires the Board to conduct hearings and
provides as follows:
(b) Upon request of a local public agency, the board shall
conduct a hearing on any conflict between a local public
agency and the division regarding a final plan that has not
been approved by the division pursuant to Section 53114.
The board shall meet within 30 days following the request,
and shall make a recommendation to resolve the conflict to
the division within 90 days following the initial hearing
by the board pursuant to the request.
The cross-referenced Section 53114 has no language about
approval of a 911 plan. Stakeholders and agency representatives
recall only one hearing the Board has ever held, and that
related to the Broadmoor Police Department challenging the
Office's denial of funding for its 911 system in 2005.
Next Generation 911 - A major challenge facing the Office in the
coming years is to migrate the current analog, voice-centric 911
system to "Next Generation 911," the Internet Protocol-based
emergency services model that enables a wide range of voice,
video, and data applications. The Office has developed a
statewide Next Gen 911 strategy, currently is implementing pilot
projects, holding public hearings, and coordinating efforts with
federal Next Gen 911 efforts. The California 911 Strategic Plan
(June 25, 2010) identified the Board as having a critical role
in advising the Office on the many policy challenges and
decisions that will be faced in planning and implementing Next
Gen 911 services.
COMMENTS
1. Author's Purpose . According to the author, this bill
will improve the effectiveness of the Board by requiring
members to attend meetings rather than send substitutes and
by requiring legislative representatives on the Board. The
author states that when a Board member sends a substitute
to Board meetings, "lack of continuity of participation
creates difficulties in providing meaningful
contributions."
2. Meeting the Next Gen Challenge . As stated in the
state's 911 Strategic Plan, an effective Board will play a
key role in meeting the challenges of migration to Next Gen
911. To the extent that requiring members to attend
meetings and ensuring that the Legislature can appoint
members to the Board improves its effectiveness, that will
help the state meet the Next Gen challenge.
3. Clarify the Board's Hearing Duty . The statutory
provisions relating to the Board's duty to conduct a
hearing at the request of a local public agency do not
reflect the Board's practice, even if infrequent, of
conducting a hearing on the issue of Office decisions on
local agency reimbursement of 911 costs. The language
specifying the Board's duties should be clear before
deciding to add new members to the Board. In addition, the
significant cost of migration to Next Gen 911 in coming
years will likely increase local agency dissatisfaction
with reimbursements from the Office and potentially result
in more local agency requests for a hearing. Thus, the
author and committee may wish to consider amending this
bill to clarify that the Board's duty to conduct a hearing
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 53115.2 of the
Government Code relates to a conflict between the local
public agency and the Office on reimbursement decisions.
4. Technical Amendment . The bill provides that the
Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint
one member to the Board. This should be amended to state
that the Senate Committee on Rules, not the Chairperson,
make the appointment.
5. Related Legislation . AB 770 (Torres 2011), which
required the Board to advise the Office on the need for 911
dispatcher training, is held in Senate Appropriations
Committee.
6. Double Referral . Should this bill be approved by the
committee, it should be re-referred to the Senate Committee
on Rules for its consideration.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (54-22)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (12-5)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(14-0)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
California Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association
Oppose:
None on file
Jacqueline Kinney
AB 2281 Analysis
Hearing Date: June 11, 2012