Tenth Annual Report to Congress on State Collection and Distribution Of

TENTH ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON STATE COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF 911 AND ENHANCED 911 FEES AND CHARGES FOR THE PERIOD JANUARY 1, 2017 TO DECEMBER 31, 2017 Submitted Pursuant to Public Law No. 110-283 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Ajit Pai, Chairman December 17, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Page # I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2 II. KEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................... 2 III. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 4 IV. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................ 5 A. Summary of Reporting Methodology .............................................................................................. 5 B. Overview of State 911 Systems ....................................................................................................... 6 C. Description of Authority Enabling Establishment of 911/E911 Funding Mechanism .................. 17 D. Description of State Authority that Determines How 911/E911 Fees are Spent ........................... 21 E. Description of Uses of State 911 Fees ........................................................................................... 23 F. Description of 911/E911 Fees Collected ....................................................................................... 30 G. Diversion or Transfer of 911/E911 Fees for Other Uses ............................................................... 42 1. States/Jurisdictions Self-Identifying as Diverting/Transferring Funds. .................................. 43 2. States/Jurisdictions Identified by the Bureau as Diverting/Transferring Funds. ..................... 44 H. Oversight and Auditing of 911/E911 Fees ..................................................................................... 49 I. Description of Next Generation 911 Services and Expenditures ................................................... 53 J. Cybersecurity Expenditures ........................................................................................................... 78 K. Measuring Effective Utilization of 911/E911 Fees ........................................................................ 83 L. Public Comments on 2017 Ninth Annual Report .......................................................................... 84 V. PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING THE 2018 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT .............................. 86 APPENDIX A Summary of State Responses Regarding Collections During 2017 Annual Period .......... 87 APPENDIX B Overview of Total State 911 Fees - 2009 To 2017 Reports .............................................. 91 APPENDIX C State 911 Fees By Service Type ........................................................................................ 94 APPENDIX D FCC Information Collection Questionnaire .................................................................... 106 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (Commission),1 hereby submits this Report to Congress on State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges, as mandated by the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act)2 and as prepared by the staff in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau).3 This is the tenth annual report on the collection and distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 (E911) fees and charges by the states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and tribal authorities, and covers the period January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. This report also reflects the fifth annual collection of new data elements relating to the number of 911 call centers and telecommunicators, 911 call volumes, 911 expenditure categories, implementation of Next Generation 911, and cybersecurity for 911 systems. II. KEY FINDINGS 2. Fifty states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands responded to this year’s data request. The 1 See 47 U.S.C. § 155(a) (stating, inter alia, that “[i]t shall be [the Chairman’s] duty . to represent the Commission in all matters relating to legislation and legislative reports”). 2 New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-283, 122 Stat. 2620 (2008) (NET 911 Act). 3 See 47 C.F.R. § 0.191(k) (providing delegated authority to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to develop responses to legislative inquiries). 2 following is a compilation of key findings based on the responses: . In calendar year 2017, 50 states and six other reporting jurisdictions collected 911/E911 fees or charges totaling $2,937,108,459. This is the first time since the Report’s inception that all jurisdictions that were sent questionnaires responded with information. Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported collecting 911/E911 fees at the state level, four states reported collecting fees at the local level, and 18 states collected fees at both the state and local level. The Bureau identified six states and one territory as diverting or transferring 911/E911 fees for purposes other than 911/E911. o Montana, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands diverted 911/E911 fees for purposes other than 911/E911. Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia used a portion of their 911/E911 funds for either non-public safety or unspecified uses (New York, Montana and Rhode Island transferred 911/E911 fees to their general funds). New Jersey, New York, Nevada, West Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands used a portion of their 911/E911 funds to support non-911 related public safety programs. o The total amount of 911/E911 funds diverted by all reporting jurisdictions in calendar year 2017 was $284,968,912.66, or approximately 9.70% of total 911/E911 fees collected. Thirty-five states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia reported engaging in Next Generation 911 (NG911) programs in calendar year 2017. The total amount of reported NG911 expenditures from 911/E911 fees was $198,971,933.06, or approximately 6.77% of total 911/E911 fees collected. Sixteen states reported having deployed state-wide Emergency Services IP Networks (ESInets). Thirteen states reported having regional ESInets within the state, and 11 states reported local-level ESInets. Fifty states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported on deployment of text-to-911. Collectively, respondents reported 1,381 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) as being text-capable as of the end of 2017 and projected that an additional 1,103 PSAPs would be text-capable by the end of 2018, for a total of 2,484 text-capable PSAPs. Data from the Commission’s Text-to- 911 Registry suggests that the expansion of text-to-911 in 2018 has come close to these projections. While almost every state collects 911 fees from in-state subscribers, 22 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands reported that they lack authority to audit service providers to verify that the collected fees accurately reflect the number of in-state subscribers served by the provider. Of the jurisdictions that have audit authority, five states conducted audits in 2017. In addition, Puerto Rico indicated that it conducted an audit even though it also reported that it does not have audit authority. 3 . On the topic of cybersecurity preparedness for PSAPs, 30 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands responded that they did not expend funds on PSAP-related cybersecurity programs. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia reported that they expended funds on cybersecurity programs for PSAPs in 2017. III. BACKGROUND 3. Section 101 of the NET 911 Act added a new section 6(f)(2) to the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (Wireless 911 Act), which provides: To ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the collection and expenditure of a fee or charge for the support or implementation of 9-1-1 or enhanced 9-1-1 services, the Commission shall submit a report within 1 year after the date of enactment of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, and annually thereafter, to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives detailing the status in each State of the collection and distribution of such fees or charges, and including findings on the amount of revenues obligated or expended by each State or political subdivision thereof for any purpose other than the purpose for which any such fees or charges are specified. 4. Information Request and Responses. In April 2018, the Bureau sent questionnaires to the Governor of each state and territory and the Mayor of the District of Columbia requesting information on 911 fee collection and expenditure for calendar year 2017.4 The Bureau received responsive information from all 50 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All jurisdictions provided written

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