California’s 2017 wildfire season was devastating. State of
emergencies were declared by the Governor for the record-breaking
fires in October and December for 13 counties in both Southern
and Northern California. Then, while California was still
recovering, it was struck with the deadliest and most destructive
wildfire in our state’s history: the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte
County killed 85 people, burned 153,336 acres and destroyed
18,804 structures.
In an emergency like these devastating fires, nothing is more
critical than for residents to be able to quickly connect with
public safety for assistance. Yet in California, residents are
still counting on an antiquated 911 system prone to outages
during disaster that is financially supported by an archaic
funding formula.
This week the Legislature took to first step to update the 911
system and passed Senate Bill 96 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal
Review), which will provide the funding necessary to transition
the existing 911 system to a Next Generation
911 infrastructure. The bill is now awaiting the Governor’s
signature.
In 2017, more than 28 million calls were placed to 911; this
equates to 77,000 calls per day. The overburdened current system
has an average of 15 network outages a month equaling 255 hours a
month that 911 is out of service. It’s clear that the
current system is long overdue for a significant
upgrade. Unfortunately, there has been a lack of funding to
do these upgrades.
The new fee structure passed by the Legislature this week
provides the funding necessary to make these upgrades by
implementing an equitable cost share across all users who can
access 911. This updated, flat-rate fee structure will allow
California to sustain the existing 911 system while building-out
Next Generation 911. This new system will utilize digital rather
than analog, offering additional paths for calls to reach 911
operators if cables are damaged by a natural disaster.
Modernizing California’s outdated 911 funding formula is crucial
to protecting our emergency call system while providing for the
future Next Generation 911.
