SSB 1172 (LSB 1422SC (6) 85)

SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BOLKCOM)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to enhanced E911 emergency communication systems, and providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 34A.7, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2013, is amended by striking the paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   a.  To encourage local implementation of E911 service, one source of funding for E911 emergency communication systems shall come from a surcharge per month, per access line on each access line subscriber, of one dollar.
    Sec. 2.  Section 34A.7, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  The program manager shall notify a local exchange service provider scheduled to provide exchange access line service to an E911 service area that implementation of an E911 service plan has been approved by the joint E911 service board and by the service area referendum and that collection of the surcharge is to begin within sixty days.
    Sec. 3.  Section 34A.7, subsection 5, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  Use of moneys in fund —— priority and limitations on expenditure.
   a.  Moneys deposited in the E911 service fund shall be used for the repayment of any bonds issued for the benefit of or loan made to the joint E911 service board pursuant to sections 34A.20 through 34A.22, and as long as any such bond or loan remains unpaid the surcharge shall not be reduced or eliminated. Moneys deposited in the fund shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be contained in the relevant bond documents, trust indenture, resolution, loan agreement, or other instrument pursuant to which bonds are issued or a loan is made, without regard to any limitation otherwise provided by law. The surcharge may be increased, but shall not exceed the maximum allowed in subsection 1, upon approval of the authority upon such terms and conditions as may be contained in the relevant bond documents, trust indenture, resolution, loan agreement, or other instrument pursuant to which bonds are issued or a loan is made, as deemed necessary or prudent by the authority to secure repayment and assure marketability or a reasonable interest rate.
   b.  Moneys deposited in the E911 service fund shall be used for the following, in order of priority if paragraph “a” does not apply:
   (1)  Money shall first be spent for actual recurring costs of operating the E911 service plan.
   (2)  If money remains in the fund after fully paying for recurring costs incurred in the preceding year, the remainder may be spent to pay for nonrecurring costs, not to exceed actual nonrecurring costs as approved by the program manager.
   (3)  If money remains in the fund after fully paying obligations under subparagraphs (1) and (2), the remainder may be accumulated in the fund as a carryover operating surplus. If the surplus is greater than twenty-five percent of the approved annual operating budget for the next year, the program manager shall reduce the surcharge by an amount calculated to result in a surplus of no more than twenty-five percent of the planned annual operating budget. After nonrecurring costs have been paid, if the surcharge is less than the maximum allowed and the fund surplus is less than twenty-five percent of the approved annual operating budget, the program manager shall, upon application of the joint E911 service board, increase the surcharge in an amount calculated to result in a surplus of twenty-five percent of the approved annual operating budget. The surcharge may only be adjusted once in a single year, upon sixty days’ prior notice to the provider.
    Sec. 4.  Section 34A.7, subsection 7, Code 2013, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 5.  Section 34A.7A, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b, Code 2013, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  Notwithstanding section 34A.6, the
 
The administrator shall adopt by rule a monthly surcharge of up to sixty-five cents
 
one dollar to be imposed on each communications service number provided in this state. The surcharge shall be imposed uniformly on a statewide basis and simultaneously on all communications service numbers as provided by rule of the administrator. The surcharge shall not be imposed on wire-line-based communications or prepaid wireless telecommunications service.
   b.  The program manager shall provide no less than sixty days’ notice of the surcharge to be imposed to each communications service provider. The program manager, subject to the sixty-five cent limit in paragraph “a”, may adjust the amount of the surcharge as necessary, but no more than once in any calendar year.
    Sec. 6.  Section 34A.7A, subsection 2, Code 2013, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  0b.  The program manager shall allocate thirteen percent of the total amount of surcharge generated to wireless carriers to recover their costs to deliver E911 phase 1 services. If the allocation in this paragraph is insufficient to reimburse all wireless carriers for such carrier’s eligible expenses, the program manager shall allocate a prorated amount to each wireless carrier equal to the percentage of such carrier’s eligible expenses as compared to the total of all eligible expenses for all wireless carriers for the calendar quarter during which such expenses were submitted. When prorated expenses are paid, the remaining unpaid expenses shall no longer be eligible for payment under this paragraph.
    Sec. 7.  Section 34A.7A, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   e.  If moneys remain in the fund after fully paying all obligations under paragraphs “a” through, “0b”, “b”, “c”, and “d”, the remainder may be accumulated in the fund as a carryover operating surplus. This surplus shall be used to fund future network and public safety answering point improvements, including hardware and software for an internet protocol-enabled next generation network, and wireless carriers’ transport costs related to wireless E911 services, if those costs are not otherwise recovered by wireless carriers through customer billing or other sources and approved by the program manager
 
in consultation with the E911 communications council. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state but shall remain available for the purposes of the fund.
    Sec. 8.  Section 34A.7A, Code 2013, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.
  a.  The program manager, in consultation with the E911 communications council, shall establish a methodology for determining and collecting comprehensive public safety answering point cost and expense data. The methodology shall include the collection of data for all costs and expenses related to the operation of a public safety answering point and account for the extent to which identified costs and expenses are compensated for or addressed through E911 surcharges versus other sources of funding. 
   b.  Data collection pursuant to paragraph “a” shall commence no later than January 1, 2014. The program manager shall prepare a report detailing the methodology developed and the data collected after such data has been collected for a two-year period. The report shall be submitted to the general assembly by March 1, 2016, and every two years thereafter.
   c.  A public safety answering point which fails to submit expenses and costs pursuant to the methodology developed pursuant to paragraph “a” by March 31, 2014, shall be allocated sixty-five cents out of the one dollar emergency communications service surcharge until March 31, 2015. A public safety answering point which fails to submit expenses and costs by March 31, 2015, shall continue to be allocated sixty-five cents out of the one dollar emergency communications service surcharge until March 31, 2016, and all revenue derived during this second year shall, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, be deposited in the emergency communications fund and accumulated as operating surplus as provided in subsection 2, paragraph “e”. These provisions shall remain applicable for failure to submit required data for every successive two-year period.
    Sec. 9.  REPEAL.  Sections 34A.6 and 34A.6A, Code 2013, are repealed.
EXPLANATION
   This bill modifies provisions applicable to the administration and funding of enhanced E911 emergency communication systems.
   The bill eliminates existing voter referendum requirements regarding imposition of the local wire-line E911 service surcharge and the alternative surcharge applicable to wire-line communications contained in Code sections 34A.6 and 34A.6A, respectively. The bill replaces current provisions authorizing imposition of the wire-line E911 service surcharge in an amount up to $1 per access line with a requirement that the surcharge be imposed at the $1 level. The bill increases the level of the emergency communications service surcharge from the current level of up to 65 cents per communications service number to $1 per service number.
   The bill reinstates provisions authorizing wireless carriers to recover their E911 service delivery costs which were eliminated during the 2012 legislative session. However, the bill specifies that the program manager shall allocate 13 percent of the total amount of emergency communications service surcharge revenue for such cost recovery. Further, the bill requires the E911 program manager to consult with the E911 communications council regarding how revenue accumulated in the emergency communications fund as carryover operating surplus shall be allocated. Currently, this determination is made strictly with the approval of the program manager.
   Additionally, the bill directs the program manager, in consultation with the council, to establish a methodology for determining and collecting comprehensive public safety answering point cost and expense data. The bill states that data collection shall commence no later than January 1, 2014, and that the program manager shall prepare a report detailing the methodology and the data collected after the data has been collected for two years. The report is required to be submitted to the general assembly by March 1, 2016, and every two years thereafter. The bill provides that a public safety answering point which fails to submit expenses and costs pursuant to the methodology by March 31, 2014, shall be allocated 65 cents out of the emergency communications service surcharge until March 31, 2015, and that a public safety answering point which fails to submit expenses and costs by March 31, 2015, shall continue to be allocated 65 cents until March 31, 2016, with all revenue derived during this second year deposited and accumulated as operating surplus in the emergency communications fund. The bill specifies that these provisions remain applicable to public safety answering points for failure to submit required data for every successive two-year period.