NG-911 Funding Bills Near Passage in Arkansas, Maryland

But New Jersey diverts large amounts of 911 fee revenue for unrelated purposes. Counties and wireless providers voiced disappointment Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) proposed state budget includes no new money for NG-911.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) supports HB-1564 that last week passed the House 81-5 and is backed by counties, said Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee Chairman Jason Rapert (R) at a livestreamed Tuesday hearing. The bill increases the 911 surcharge for wireless and VoIP to $1.30 from 65 cents, and the surcharge for prepaid cards from 65 cents to 10 percent of the transaction. It doesn’t change fees collected from landlines. The plan would reduce public safety answering points to 77 from 127. The bill is expected to provide about $24 million, with $16 million for the state 911 board to upgrade 911 systems and $8 million to upgrade the Arkansas Wireless Information Network, the public safety communication system, the chairman said.

“We need equipment that will function with 21st century devices,” Rapert said. A photo sent to 911 “could make the difference between catching an individual and [the person's] escaping,” he said. Sen. Joyce Elliott supports the mandate but has “a little bit of heartburn” about the impact increasing fees on prepaid cards would have on the poor. The Democrat wouldn’t want to increase “hardship on people that are already in hardship status.” The bill must pass the Senate by April 5 when the session ends.

Maryland NG-911 legislation also is nearing final passage. “This will save lives,” Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D) said at a House Health and Government Operations Committee hearing on SB-339. Previously passed 40-6 by the Senate, the bill aims to upgrade the state to NG-911 by increasing the current $1 fee on each phone bill to $1.25 monthly per phone line (see 1902260058). Kagan noted the bill is identical to cross-filed HB-397 that the House voted 131-0 Saturday to pass. Each chamber must pass the other’s bill by April 8 when session ends.

New Jersey counties are disappointed Murphy’s $38.6 billion proposed state budget for FY 2020 included no new funding for county and municipal 911 centers, New Jersey Association of Counties Executive Director John Donnadio emailed. New Jersey, which the FCC found diverted $94.2 million -- 77.3 percent -- of 911 fee revenue to unrelated purposes in 2017 (see 1812190059), continues that practice, Donnadio said. “Over the next few weeks, NJAC plans to testify before the Assembly Budget Committee, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, that the State of New Jersey should comply with federal guidelines to adequately fund county and municipal 911 centers pursuant to FCC guidelines.”

New Jersey’s proposed budget “will continue the practice of stealing funds from the 911 Trust Fund and choosing not to upgrade the state’s existing obsolete system,” emailed New Jersey Wireless Association President Rob Ivanoff. It's “one of the few states in the country not installing lifesaving NextGen911 technology. We will continue our efforts to ensure the 911 funds are dedicated to ... our 911 centers.” Murphy's office didn’t comment.

Also at the Arkansas hearing, legislation to stop caller ID spoofing got support from the state attorney general’s office and AARP. SB-514 "gives us tools we don't currently have,” including to “go after” telecom providers “not making the effort to take advantage of the FCC’s current initiatives to remove regulatory barriers to stop this,” said Deputy Attorney General Chuck Harder. Rapert supported the measure, saying he hopes to “dig even deeper” into the problem later.