Gives the Wireless Enhanced 911 Board flexibility in expending funds by allowing: 911 answering service agencies (PSAPs) to recover rather than be reimbursed for their costs; Recovery of essential operating expenses currently excluded by the wording of the law; The Board to allocate payments to PSAPs and wireless carriers while ensuring at least one-third of funds are available for wireless provider cost recovery. (SB2239 HD1)

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Section 138-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§138-5[]] Recovery from the fund. (a) After January 1, 2005, every public safety answering point shall be eligible to seek [reimbursement] recovery from the fund [solely] to pay for the reasonable costs to lease, purchase, or maintain all necessary equipment, including computer hardware, software, and database provisioning[,] required by the public safety answering point to provide technical functionality for the wireless enhanced 911 service pursuant to the Federal Communications Commission order. [All other expenses] Expenses necessary to operate the public safety answering point, including but not limited to those expenses related to overhead, staffing, and other day-to-day operational expenses, shall continue to be paid through the general funding of the respective counties. The board may determine by policy that certain expenses necessary to the provision of wireless enhanced 911 services by the public safety answering points may be recovered from the fund.

(b) After January 1, 2005, each wireless provider may request [reimbursement] recovery from the fund [of] for wireless enhanced 911 commercial mobile radio service costs incurred; provided that the costs:

In no event shall a wireless provider [be reimbursed for] recover any amount above its actual wireless enhanced 911 commercial mobile radio service costs that are allowed to be recovered under section 138-4(d).

(c) After the expenses of the board are paid, the [public safety answering points shall be allocated two thirds of the remaining balance of the fund. The remaining one-third shall be available for wireless provider cost recovery.] board shall determine the allocation of the remaining balance of the fund between the public safety answering points and wireless providers; provided that at least one-third of the remaining balance shall be available for wireless provider cost recovery. The board shall determine the [reimbursement] amounts [for] recoverable by the public safety answering points, based on the limitations set forth in section 138-5(a). The [reimbursement level for] amount recoverable by each wireless provider shall be limited:

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2060.