BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2837
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 24, 2000

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                   AB 2837 (Hertzberg) - As Amended:  May 18, 2000 

          Policy Committee:                              Governmental  
          Organization Vote:                            11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill: 

          1)Authorizes local agencies to establish a 3-1-1 nonemergency  
            telephone system in order to reduce the burden on the 9-1-1  
            system from nonemergency calls.

          2)Requires the  above agencies to submit their 3-1-1 plans to  
            the Department of General Services' Communications Division.  

          1)Requires the Communications Division to establish technical  
            standards and protocols for the system and to impose a  
            surcharge, sufficient to operate the system, on the telephone  
            service for every customer within the jurisdictions having  
            3-1-1 service.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Estimated special fund costs of about $600,000 in the first  
            year and about $900,000 thereafter for the Department of  
            General Services to establish and administer the program.

          2)Costs to provide the 3-1-1 service would depend on the number  
            of local communities that elect to establish the service, but  
            could be tens of millions of dollars annually, which would be  
            covered by the surcharge on telephone users.

           COMMENTS  

           Background and Purpose  .  In recent years, California's 9-1-1  
          emergency response system has experienced a substantial growth,  








                                                                  AB 2837
                                                                  Page  2

          in part due to the high ratio of nonemergency calls. 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 this situation, Chapter 887, Statutes of 1997 (AB  
          1198, Hertzberg) provided funding for a pilot project to  
          evaluate the following two approaches to reducing the number of  
          nonemergency calls:  (1) using 3-1-1 to reach local public  
          safety agencies for nonemergency assistance and (2) improving  
          marketing of existing non-emergency telephone numbers for  
          non-emergency assistance.

          The preliminary conclusion of the pilot project report was that  
          the 3-1-1 alternative had a greater positive impact.  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.  The  
          author asserts that the demonstrated success of the pilot  
          project justifies establishing a 3-1-1 nonemergency telephone  
          number program.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)319-2081