Prospects Look ‘Bleak’ for State Bans on 911 Fee Diversion

The 911 system is underfunded and state fund diversion is a “huge” concern, said National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes in an interview. “It is frustrating that 911 fees, which are designated on consumers’ bill as 911 fees, are not used for 911 purposes." Fee diversion also concerns the National Association of State 911 Administrators, said NASNA Executive Director Evelyn Bailey. “I understand why it happens, but 911 isn’t rolling in money,” she said. “Especially at the local level, it’s a pain that’s felt severely in many places. When a state legislator or a governor decides that this is a source of funding for something else, then 911 … is going to be hindered from doing its job.”

Without adequate funding, 911 centers may be understaffed and emergency calls may not be answered right away, said Fontes. Also, the 911 professionals who are there may not be adequately trained and the centers won’t be upgraded to NG-911 for a long time -- maybe never, he said. Unless centers are upgraded, they will be “little islands of analog 911 in the middle of an IP world,” Bailey said. “What people expect when they call 911 is that they’re able to use their smartphone device the way they use it in their communications with all of their friends and family.” But “antiquated” 911 systems can’t handle multimedia messages, she said. Without NG-911 to feed FirstNet valuable information, the public safety network won’t reach its full potential, she said. An IP-based 911 system will be more resilient in a storm or a terrorist attack, and provide richer information to public safety, she said.

Editor's Note: This report, the first of a two-part series, looks at the three biggest 911 revenue diverters: New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.

New Jersey

New Jersey diverted 89 percent of 911 fee revenue, or $106.7 million, the FCC report said. The state told the commission it sent the money to programs within the state's departments of Law and Public Safety and Military and Veterans Affairs. A spokesman for the state’s Treasury told us the 911 fee revenue went into a general fund and -- in fact -- it would be a diversion of funds to spend more of the money on 911.

Revenue from 911 fees “goes into the General Fund,” the state Treasury spokesman emailed. “It is up to the Legislature and the Executive Branch to determine how it is spent.” The state’s constitution “requires annual budgeting of revenues by the Legislature and prohibits multi-year statutory dedications of revenues,” he said. “All uses of various tax revenues, including taxes on phone use, have been appropriately allocated by the Legislature in annual appropriations acts. No funds have been diverted from the Legislature’s lawful allocation of funds. In fact, using more revenues for 911 purposes in violation of annual legislative appropriations would have been a diversion of revenues from a lawful appropriation.”

An NG-911 bill in the New Jersey Assembly provides more money to upgrade 911 through a 10 percent increase to 911 fees, but it doesn’t address 911 fund diversion. The Democratic bill (A-1821), pending in the Appropriations Committee of the state’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly, would raise the monthly fee from 90 cents to 99 cents while requiring public safety answering points to be equipped with NG-911 within three years of enactment. New Jersey Wireless Association (NJWA) Managing Director Robert Ivanoff told us this won’t be effective. “While the bill … directs the increased 911 fees to be spent on [NG-911], there is no type of enforcement process to ensure this occurs and the spending prioritization of the E911 Trust Fund is exempt from" New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act, he said.

The state wireless association met with New Jersey legislators in both houses about 911 fee diversion, but no legislation was introduced to stop the practice, and Gov. Chris Christie (R) hasn’t addressed the problem, said Ivanoff. An NJWA presentation said fee diversion has left many 911 centers underfunded. While the state’s 911 fund paid for three centers operated by the state, none of the money went to about 200 centers with eligible expenses operated by New Jersey counties and municipalities, or toward NG-911 upgrades, it said.

New York

New York diverted 41.6 percent of 911 revenue, or $77.3 million, to the state’s general fund in 2014, the FCC reported. A Democratic bill in the New York Senate would prohibit diversion of any government funds, including 911, for purposes other than for what the fund was originally intended. The office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) didn’t comment.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron sponsored the bill to stop fund diversion, S-6297. "Ensuring lockbox funds remain locked is a common-sense way to ensure funding for critical services like 911 is there when it's needed, so those services don't have to compete for sufficient funding,” he emailed. The bill is before the New York Senate Judiciary Committee, but Squadron is in the Senate’s Democratic minority and therefore has no control over when or if the bill comes up for a vote. S-6297 lacks majority Republican co-sponsors. The legislative session ends June 16, so the committee will need to move the bill forward by early June if it’s to survive, said Squadron’s office.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island diverted 69.5 percent, or $12.3 million, of 911 revenue in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, the FCC reported. Most went to the state’s general fund and some to its information technology fund, it said. While some legislators seek to stop 911 fee diversion, a spokeswoman for the state defended the practice.

“Rhode Island’s E-9-1-1 funds support various public safety efforts in addition to 9-1-1 services,” emailed a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Administration. “A portion of the funding goes toward State Police, the Office of the Fire Marshal and public safety training, which all support our emergency services system in Rhode Island. The State fully funds the requirements of E-9-1-1, and the spending on our broader public safety efforts is far greater than the amounts we collect. All of these divisions work in tandem to provide fast, efficient emergency services to Rhode Islanders.”

Legislation pending in the General Assembly would create a restricted receipt account for all 911 funds and require they be used only for the operation of the 911 system. But as in New York, the bill is sponsored by politicians in the minority. In Rhode Island’s case, Republicans introduced the bill in the House and Senate. The Senate version, S-2794, is before that body’s Finance Committee. May 17, the House Finance Committee recommended that the identical House bill (H-7722) should be “held for further study.”

“As a freshman Republican in a heavily Democratic state, trying to move a bill that will cost the state coffers, it's prospect for passage is bleak,” emailed H-7772 sponsor Rep. Bob Lancia. In a statement March 8, Lancia explained the need for his legislation: “Local communities should keep the money collected from E-911 fees on phone bills to make their communities safer, and be able to use the money to upgrade aging dispatch systems, not be diverted for other use.”

It’s a perennial issue in Rhode Island, said William Gasbarro, co-director of the state’s 911 administrator, E 9-1-1 Uniform Emergency Telephone Systems. “Traditionally, in each legislative year, there are discussions relative to the collection and remittance of the 911 surcharge.”