BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1211
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1211 (Padilla)
As Amended August 22, 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, Ch�vez, Dahle, | |Chesbro, Cooley, |
| |Fong, Beth Gaines, | |Dababneh, Gray, |
| |Garcia, Roger Hern�ndez, | |Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, |
| |Jones, Mullin, Quirk, | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, |
| |Rendon, Skinner | |Medina, |
| | | |V. Manuel P�rez, 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
with public safety and technologically feasible, shared
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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.
4)Contains double jointing language to avoid chaptering out of
AB 1717 (Perea) of the current legislative session.
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. 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 General Fund (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)Next Generation 9-1-1. 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. 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.
This bill would require OES to "develop a plan and timeline
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.
2)Including NG9-1-1 costs in the calculation of surcharge rates.
This bill requires NG9-1-1 planning and implementation costs
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to be considered during OES' calculation of the annual 9-1-1
surcharge. The 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: 0005378