State 911 Fee Diversion Little Changed at $200M in 2019
Five states diverted more than $200 million of 911 fee revenue -- about 6.6% of all such money -- for unrelated purposes in 2019, the FCC reported Tuesday. That’s about $2 million more than the same states were reported to divert in 2018 (see 1912190077). Outgoing Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he did what he could.
States collected more than $3 billion last year for 911. Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia diverted 911 fee revenue in 2019, said the Public Safety Bureau. Nevada didn’t divert at the state level, but two local jurisdictions did, the bureau said. All five diverters used part of the money for public safety programs unrelated to 911, and all but Nevada used part for nonpublic safety or unspecified uses, it said. All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and most territories responded to this year’s request; only the Northern Mariana Islands didn’t.
O’Rielly credited West Virginia for addressing the issue and condemned the other four. “No excuse for those abusing law & misleading consumers!” he tweeted. O’Rielly spearheaded the FCC’s fight against diversion but exits the agency this week (see 2012040053). “I’m sorry to the residents of Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and counties in Nevada,” he wrote. “I carried the debate against 9-1-1 state fee diversion as far as I could in my @FCC role.”
It's “outrageous” that diversion continues, said Chairman Ajit Pai. “This practice is especially egregious during a time when America has grappled with a pandemic, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, and when we were again reminded of the heroic work of first responders and the critical importance of our 911 system.”
New Jersey led state diversion of funds by percentage (75.2% or about $93.6 million). New York shifted more money ($97.3 million) even though that’s 41.7% of collected revenue, the report said. Rhode Island diverted $8.3 million (54.4%) and West Virginia $1 million (1.6%). West Virginia enacted a law clarifying 911 revenue spending in March (see 2003270042). A Nevada 911 official in September said the state is working with the FCC (see 2009230046). The five states didn’t comment Tuesday.
D.C., Puerto Rico and 42 states spent about $278.4 million on next-generation 911 in 2019. Six states didn’t report how much they spent on NG-911, and eight states, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported none. The FCC found 18 states deployed statewide ESInets, 15 had regional ESInets and 12 had local-level ESInets. Respondents reported 2,708 public safety answering points as text-capable by the end of 2019, and three additional states and Guam expected to provide that capability in 2020. D.C. and 15 states spent funds on PSAP cybersecurity in 2019, but 34 states and four territories said they didn’t. South Dakota and Arkansas, but not Guam or Alaska, had PSAPs with text-to-911 listed in the FCC's registry as of Nov. 25.
The FCC sought comment on the 12th state 911 fee report to Congress; it got replies last week on a notice of inquiry to find ways to deter diversion (see 2012030052). Highlighting the issue’s complexity in those and earlier comments, states and other stakeholders warned not to further punish 911 systems in need of upgrades.
Editor's note: This is part of an ongoing series of articles about 911, including on fee diversion and dispatching problems in D.C. See here, here, here, here and here for those reports from 2020.