911 funding reform up for consideration

With 911 centers throughout Montana struggling to keep pace with the increasingly pervasive use of wireless technology, a sweeping measure to reform the state’s program for supporting those local entities will get its first committee hearing this week.

Sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, House Bill 61 emerged from an interim committee tasked with studying the state’s existing program to support local 911 services. It heads before the House Federal Relations, Energy and Telecommunications Committee Monday.

The main component of the bill would increase support for “next-generation 911” technologies. While it sounds like a buzzword, Flathead 911 Emergency Communications Center Director Liz Brooks said the changes to state law would update Montana’s antiquated language defining the types of technology that can be covered by state funding.

As an example, she pointed to text-to-911 capability. Some 911 centers in the state already allow cell phone users to request help through a text message, but the mobile capability is not supported in the vast majority of the state, including Flathead County.

“For some people, [calling 911] is not possible, say if someone has a domestic violence situation going on or a home invasion,” Brooks said, adding that it can also benefit the hearing-impaired.

Improvements in next-generation technology could also eventually allow dispatch centers to receive photos and videos from mobile users, to quickly convey information on the extent of damage at the scene of an accident, or the degree of a victim’s injuries. On-Star and similar services in vehicles can also transmit the driver’s GPS location, the number of times a vehicle rolled, the number of passengers and whether they were wearing seatbelts.

“The technology is there — it’s just a matter of connecting it all together,” Brooks said. “It’s not all going to come at once, but we have to be prepared, and that’s part of what this bill will do.”

Another major part is funding.

HB 61 is revenue-neutral, meaning it won’t impact the state’s bottom line. But it would use existing funding sources to establish grant programs for local 911 centers and service providers.

Montanans’ phone bills include a $1 monthly fee for each subscriber or separate line to help fund 911 operations in the state. Most of that money is used to support investments in local 911 jurisdictions, but 25 percent goes into an account to help cover costs for the phone service providers.

Over the years, that account has steadily collected fees and interest, and currently sits at about $10 million, according to a report from the Legislative Services Division.

Known as the “stranded” account, state law currently requires that it be available to the communications providers for infrastructure investments to support 911 technology. But Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, who chaired the interim committee that crafted HB 61, said the companies expressed little interest in claiming it.

“I think it was just kind of onerous for them to get the money, and they’ve just let their share pile up,” Regier said.

Garner’s bill calls for using $5 million to set up a grant program for telecommunications providers and local public-safety answering points throughout the state, and use additional funds for geographic information systems and to establish a statewide 911 plan.

A new grant account would receive 25 percent of phone-bill fees currently collecting in the stranded-funds account, while the rest would be distributed to local government entities for 911 operations. The legislation would also establish a 17-member state commission to help administer the grant programs and develop the statewide 911 plan.

Garner said the measure will provide more efficient sources of dedicated funding to help local emergency-response centers meet emerging demands.

“This bill goes a long way in helping make sure that all equipment is modernized and is supported into the future,” he said. “Ten years from now, this system is going to continue to be maintained and improved without having to continue to take legislative action.”

Bullock’s proposed budget calls for transferring the stranded $10 million into the state’s general fund to help balance the 2018-19 budget. But Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte, who has been tapped to carry the governor’s spending plan in the House, said that part of the overall proposal is far from set in stone.

“There’s a long way to go, the budget will be worked on and those things are all going to change,” Keane said. “It’s accurate right now, but a week from now it probably won’t be accurate.”

However the funding components shake out, Garner noted the bill’s focus is on modernization of emergency-response systems, and isn’t intended as a fix for long-term funding difficulties like those at the Flathead 911 center.

Brooks supports the bill but agreed that it won’t significantly impact the local dispatch center’s budget — which has been the subject of two failed bond referendums in recent years.

“We’re making payroll and we’re keeping up with operating expenses, but we’re not able to keep up with technology or improvements in most cases,” she said. It would leave the Flathead with about the same state funding levels, but she added a modest boost in resources “will be possible for us as a whole, depending on how the grants work out.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.