BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1477
Author: Hertzberg (D)
Amended: 9/7/01 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/10/01
AYES: Bowen, Morrow, Alarcon, Battin, Murray, Sher,
Speier, Vincent
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 9/7/01
AYES: Alpert, Battin, Bowen, Escutia, Johnson, Karnette,
McPherson, Murray, Perata, Speier
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-1, 6/4/01 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State non-emergency telephone number system
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes local public agencies to
establish a 311 non-emergency telephone system, and
authorizes a surcharge of up to 0.25 percent in the 911
charge in those locales which opt to provide the
nonemergency system.
ANALYSIS : Current law provides for a "911" Emergency
Telephone Service system, which is financed by a surcharge
on all residential and business telephone bills, and caps
that surcharge at 0.75 percent of a customer's telephone
bill.
CONTINUED
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Current law provides for a pilot program to test a "311"
non-emergency telephone system.
This bill allows each county, city, and joint powers
authority which operates a public safety answering point to
establish a 311 nonemergency system. A nonemergency system
is defined as one which provides access to public safety
agencies and to other services provided by a jurisdiction
such as street maintenance and animal control. Until
January 1, 2006, only cities and JPAs have the exclusive
authority to establish a 311 system. After that date, if a
city or JPA hasn't proposed a 311 system, a county is
authorized to establish one.
This bill allows local public agencies to pay for such a
system by imposing a surcharge rate of up to 0.25 percent
on intrastate telephone bills for customers within the
local public agency's jurisdiction. The rate will be
uniform throughout the state. The State Board of
Equalization will be responsible from collecting the
surcharge from telephone suppliers who will, in turn, bill
their customers. These fees will go into effect no earlier
than November 1, 2002.
This bill requires the Telecommunications Division within
the State Department of General Services (DGS) to develop
technical and operational standards for the "311" system by
January 1, 2003. DGS shall review local public agency
plans for their "311" system to ensure they comply with the
DGS standards and shall monitor the "311" systems to ensure
they remain in compliance.
The bill is double-joined with SB 896 (Poochigian).
Background
"911" is the number for emergency telephone service. This
service was created in 1976 and paid for by a statewide
surcharge (statutorily capped at 0.75 percent) on each
telephone bill.
The number of calls to "911" has grown faster that the
number of operators needed to answer those calls. In Los
Angeles, it's been reported that five percent of all "911"
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calls went unanswered and 27 percent of the calls took ten
or more seconds to answer. In the San Francisco Bay Area,
23 percent of "911" calls made by cellular telephones went
unanswered.
A significant number of "911" calls are for non-emergency
purposes. Estimates on just how many calls are of a
non-emergency variety range from as low as 20 percent to as
high as 95 percent. Here in Sacramento, officials estimate
between 50 percent and 80 percent of "911" calls aren't
true emergencies. Current law makes it a misdemeanor to
use the "911" system for anything other than reporting
emergencies, though this has obviously not been a
successful deterrent.
One idea for relieving the pressure on the "911" system is
to provide an alternate means of contacting public safety
agencies for non-emergency purposes. In 1996, President
Clinton called for the creation of a nationwide
non-emergency telephone service similar to "911." In 1997,
the Federal Communications Commission ordered that "311"
service be made available for that purpose and in that same
year, the Legislature passed AB 1198 (Hertzberg), Chapter
887, Statutes of 1997, which created a "311" pilot program
in San Jose. Under the pilot, a "311" number was tested
against an attempt to educate the public about an existing
seven-digit non-emergency public assistance number.
In 1999, a final draft report on the results of the pilot
program found that both approaches improved "911" response
and that the "311" program was the more effective of the
two approaches. Under the "311" program, the average "911"
answer time decreased by 26 percent, and the number of
non-emergency calls to "911" decreased by 63 percent. The
City of San Jose was one of the pilot project cities. It
found the "311" system relieved pressure on the "911"
system and has elected to continue the operation of the
"311" system past the end of the pilot project.
Related Legislation
This bill is similar to AB 2837 (Hertzberg) of the
1999-2000 Session. That bill was vetoed by the Governor,
who stated in his veto message:
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"While the concept for a separate non-emergency
telephone system is a good one, the potential costs for
this program are unknown at this time. Without pilot
projects to provide the data necessary to estimate
costs for this program, it would be premature to
approve this measure.
"Use of specific numbering resources falls primarily
within the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s
jurisdiction. The California Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) manages California's valuable
numbering resources in compliance with those federal
rules and is currently coordinating with the FCC to
implement 211 and 511, respectively, for other uses. I
am directing the PUC to look at the provision of 311
services in concert with their existing 211 and 511
proceedings."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
$580,000 in 2001-02 for DGS administration. Costs in
2002-03 offset by fees. Local revenue gain of up to $25
million.
SUPPORT : (Unable to verify at time of writing)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
City of Los Angeles
City of San Jose
League of California Cities
Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Riverside Sheriff's Association
OPPOSITION : (Unable to verify at time of writing)
City of Dana Point
State Board of Equalization
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Aroner, Bates, Bogh, Briggs,
Calderon, Bill Campbell, John Campbell, Canciamilla,
Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill,
Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra,
Firebaugh, Florez, Frommer, Goldberg, Harman, Havice,
Horton, Jackson, Keeley, Kehoe, Kelley, Koretz, La Suer,
Leach, Leonard, Leslie, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal,
Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Migden, Nakano, Nation,
Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Robert Pacheco, Papan, Pavley,
Pescetti, Reyes, Richman, Runner, Salinas, Shelley,
Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thomson,
Vargas, Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins, Wright, Wyland, Wyman,
Zettel, Hertzberg
NOES: Rod Pacheco
NC:cm 9/8/01 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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