BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2837
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 3, 2000
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Herb Wesson, Chair
AB 2837 (Hertzberg) - As introduced: February 28, 2000
SUBJECT : Statewide nonemergency telephone number
SUMMARY : Requires the Division of Telecommunications in the
Department of General Services to establish a statewide "311"
nonemergency telephone number system for local public safety
agencies to reduce the burden placed on the "911" emergency
telephone system by nonemergency calls.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes a pilot program in the Division of
Telecommunications to evaluate methods of reducing the use of
the "911" telephone number for nonemergency assistance.
2)Establishes "911" as the primary emergency telephone number in
the state and requires local and state public safety agencies
to participate in the emergency telephone system.
3)Requires state and local agencies to maintain a secondary
number for nonemergency telephone calls.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
1. Background . In recent years, California's 9-1-1
emergency response system has experienced a substantial
growth in the number of calls received. This increase in
calls to 9-1-1 is especially alarming to state and local
agencies responsible for implementing the emergency response
system because of the high ratio of nonemergency related
calls. Some estimates indicate that for every 10 calls
placed to 9-1-1, at least 7 of the calls are nonemergency
related. The result of the increased call volume is that
many callers with legitimate emergencies experience busy
signals or have their calls held by a recorded message when
calling 9-1-1.
In response to the increased numbers of nonemergency calls to
AB 2837
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the emergency response telephone number, the Legislature passed
and the Governor signed AB 1198 (Hertzberg), Chapter 887,
Statutes of 1997. AB 1198 provided funding for a pilot project
to evaluate two different approaches to reducing the number of
nonemergency calls: 1) The use of 3-1-1 as a means of reaching
local public safety agencies for nonemergency assistance and 2)
The improved marketing of the use of, and access to, existing
non-emergency telephone numbers for non-emergency assistance.
The preliminary conclusion of the pilot project report was that
the 3-1-1 approach to reducing nonemergency calls had a greater
positive impact on 9-1-1 than did the use of improved marketing
of existing nonemergency telephone numbers. The study also
suggested that the Legislature consider whether focusing
resources on other factors, such as emergency call center
staffing, would have a similar beneficial impact on 9-1-1.
2. Purpose of the bill . According to the author's office,
this bill would help improve the 9-1-1 emergency response
system by reducing the number of calls received for
nonemergency purposes. The author asserts that the
demonstrated success of the pilot project justifies
establishing a statewide 3-1-1 nonemergency telephone number
program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Richard Rios / G. O. / (916) 319-2531