O’Rielly Tells Montana to Return Diverted $2M to 911 Fund
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blasted Montana 911 fee diversion. “Initiate a process to reverse this blatant misappropriation of funds and provide a firm commitment that such a practice will not occur again,” the GOP commissioner wrote Gov. Steve Bullock (D),…
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released Tuesday. Citing 2018 filings, O’Rielly said the state diverted $2 million in 2017 (see 1812190059) and the governor’s office sought to divert more. Montana officials reportedly “intended to use the 9-1-1 fee diversion to help right-size the number of college professors in the Montana University System, including by pursuing buy-outs,” O’Rielly wrote Monday, saying it would be very "egregious." He called “completely inaccurate” the state’s claims that diversion “would not jeopardize Montana’s eligibility for federal grants to modernize its 9-1-1 systems.” The state already “lost out on a portion” of a $109 million grant program, he said. Bullock’s office didn’t comment.