House Hearing Seen Determining Path on 911 Fee Integrity Act, Other Bills

The other public safety bills House Communications will discuss are the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act (HR-5700) and Anti-Swatting Act (HR-6003). HR-5700 would direct the FCC to create a unified wireless number for critical nonemergency situations on U.S. highways (see 1805090033). HR-6003 would increase criminal penalties against individuals who intentionally transmit false or misleading caller ID information to public safety answering points with the aim of triggering an emergency response.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us he didn't anticipate combining the three bills' language into a single public safety communications legislative package, but committee staff will look for ways to potentially move them later this year. It was important House Communications hold a hearing on the three bills before the chamber recesses for the election campaign because they're individually and collectively important, Walden said. The hearing was originally set for mid-September but postponed when leaders decided to begin the Yom Kippur recess early (see 1809130035).

It's possible Congress could move on HR-5700, HR-6003 and HR-6424 this year if the right conditions exist and there's must-pass legislation that the three bills could be attached to, said National Emergency Number Association Government Affairs Director Dan Henry and others. “These bills have a lot going for them in that they are bipartisan sponsored” and are believed to have bipartisan support, Henry said: “Everyone can get behind” the broad principles of what the bills aim to achieve. “There are a lot of variables and things that can happen between now and the end of this session” that could make it more difficult to attach even popular public safety legislation to a larger bill, particularly once the election happens and both chambers return for the lame-duck session, Henry said.

HR-6424 in particular could be well placed to return early in the next Congress if there isn't enough will to pass it this year, said Henry and NG-911 Institute Executive Director Patrick Halley separately. Halley said he will listen closely to the House Communications hearing to determine whether HR-6424 and the other bills have widespread bipartisan support, as has traditionally been the case for public safety legislation. “I hope there won't be partisan squabbles” as happened during a litany of other House Communications this year on other issues, Halley said.

National Association of State 911 Administrators Executive Director Evelyn Bailey said she's wary of HR-6424 as currently written because language in the bill that would remove a state’s 911 funding punishes the very state emergency programs being raided by bad behavior in the legislature or governor’s office. “State 911 programs without exception do everything they can to dissuade their higher-ups” from diverting 911 fees, with mixed results, Bailey said. “They are the ones that are going to be harmed” by the current legislative language, which is “a very sad state of affairs.” Bailey's concerns “aren't unfounded,” especially since “911 authorities don't have a huge amount of influence over the governor's office or statehouse,” Henry said. “I hope that something like this gets paired with provisions that help avoid hurting the victims.”

Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Department of Public Safety Communications Division Head James Curry is expected to testify on HR-6424. In New Jersey “when you pay certain fees on your phone bills called 9-1-1 fees -- it doesn’t finance what one might expect,” Curry says in his written testimony. The state “collects approximately $120 million dollars annually in consumer surcharges as 9-1-1 System and Emergency Response fees and deposits into a trust fund,” he says. “None of the money has been used to fund those eligible expenses at the local 9-1-1 level.”

NENA supports HR-6003, particularly because “it's difficult to combat swatting from inside the 911 call center,” Henry said. PSAPs “can't afford to not dispatch to a real emergency just because an operator thinks it might be fake.” Each incident costs first responders thousands of dollars so it's important that HR-6003 includes language that would let agencies recoup costs from false emergency calls, he said. NENA believes HR-5700 is also a “good first step,” but public education and operational advances that allow a proposed nonemergency short-code to interface seamlessly with 911 will be needed, Henry said.

Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department Public Information Office Director Paul Starks will testify in favor of HR-6003. The bill “is necessary to augment state and local efforts with federal resources to investigate swatting events and in the end individual(s) who initiate these calls will be more easily held responsible,” Starks says: Swatting “causes large numbers of personnel to put forth efforts that are not only costly, but also strip an organization and a community of public safety resources.”

Prince William County, Virginia, Government Director-Public Safety Communications Eddie Reyes is also expected to be a witness. His written testimony wasn't available.