By Katherine Gregg
Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island is one of the six states at the top of the “name-and-shame” list the Federal Communications Commission publishes annually to draw attention to the diversion elsewhere of 60 percent of the millions of dollars in E-911 fees collected from telephone bill payers.
On Monday, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly is coming to Rhode Island to hear what “first responders” here have to say about this “unconscionable” practice. He left no doubt what he personally thinks in this Feb. 16 tweet:
“Rhode Island’s budget is over $9.3 BILLION but still found it necessary to steal approx $10 million from 9-1-1 call centers and consumers ... leading to longer wait times, overworked staff, and greater risk to public. #AWFUL”
Elaborating on March 1 in a blog post on the FCC.gov website, O’Rielly wrote: “It is unconscionable that some states divert fees collected for legitimate and needed 9-1-1 communications capabilities to unrelated purposes, threatening the public’s safety for short-term budget relief.”
O’Rielly is coming to Rhode Island, his chief of staff confirms, to attend the “summit” that Republican Rep. Robert Lancia of Cranston is hosting at the Cranston Central Library on Monday night. Lancia hopes the gathering will draw representatives of the Rhode Island police and fire chiefs associations and the Rhode Island Medical Society.
His stated purpose: “to raise awareness about the issues facing Rhode Island’s E-911 system and to discuss possible solutions.”
“These men and women are out there every day keeping us safe, but without a properly funded 911 system, their job becomes much more difficult. I want to give them a chance to share their insights,” Lancia said.
O’Rielly learned of the meeting from an article that appeared recently in a newsletter titled “Communications Daily,” which calls itself the “the authoritative source for telecom regulation, legislation and policy development news.”
The article began: “Movements to end 911 fee diversion in New Jersey and Rhode Island continue as FCC commissioners amplify rhetoric on the issue and after another commission report showed several states still using 911 fees charged on phone bills for things not directly related to 911.”
The article continued: “New Jersey, Rhode Island and New Mexico led reporting states in percentage of 911 funds diverted to non-911 purposes ... the FCC said (in a recently released report) New Jersey diverted 89 percent ($108.1 million) to its general fund and public safety; Rhode Island 60 percent ($8.4 million) to its general fund; and New Mexico 55 percent ($6 million).”
Rhode Islanders pay $1 in E-911 fees on their monthly land-line bills, $1.26 for each device on their wireless bills. Along with prepaid wireless charges, the fees raised $14,021,695 in an 11-month period from July 1, 2016 to May 30, 2017,” according to Rhode Island’s required filing.
The cost of providing E-911 services during that period: $5,699,440, according to the state’s FCC filing. The rest, $8,387,831, went into the state’s general fund.
NBC 10 recently reported that the state’s E-911 center was down by at least 10 employees and that more than 20,000 calls had been placed on hold in 2017, with some callers waiting as long as 2 minutes 47 seconds.
On Feb. 14, the General Assembly posted a news release that began: “Rep. Lancia received an anonymous tip claiming that the 911 office is dangerously understaffed to handle the number of calls coming in. Staffing numbers have dropped below the previous minimum level of 8 personnel with as few as 4 operators handling calls from midnight until morning.”
Lancia said he met with a top staffer in Governor Raimondo’s office who assured him that the 911 system had been functioning safely and effectively. But Lancia said: “This is a potential disaster in the making.”
Lancia has introduced a bill, H7289, to end 911 fee diversion. The bill would require 911 fee revenue to be transferred to “a restricted receipt account and used solely for the operation of the E-911 uniform emergency telephone system.” The bill would allow the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission to reduce the 911 surcharge if it determines the fees are bringing more revenue than 911 needs. Another Lancia measure (HR-7313) would create a legislative commission to study the state’s 911 needs.
Lancia believes his past efforts met resistance “because other lawmakers wanted the 911 money to balance the state budget.”
On Thursday, Raimondo’s spokesman Josh Block told The Journal he had not seen Lancia’s legislation, but the governor has “ordered every telecommunications vacancy to be filled immediately.”
He said the division is budgeted for 33 “tele-communicators"—which means people answering the calls; four vacancies were recently filled, and the five more hires anticipated in the next few weeks will bring it back up to its authorized level. The governor is proposing to add two next year.
In response to the objections to diverting money collected for 911 emergency services to unspecified state spending, Block said: “It’s important to think about public safety holistically. When you call 911 you speak to a telecommunications dispatcher. They’ll dispatch a police officer. They’ll dispatch a fire engine... The Department of Public Safety budget which supports those services is over $100 million.”
Copyright 2018 Providence Journal