HB3367 HD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that despite clear restrictions on expenditures imposed by chapter 138, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and no enabling legislation being passed to authorize such actions, the wireless enhanced 911 board reported in a fiscal year 2007 report that it intends to expend the balance of the wireless enhanced 911 fund ($20,157,156.50 as of December 31, 2007) for projects to expand coverage in rural areas and in-building coverage, and other future technologies not yet identified by the wireless community. Also stated in the report was the board's intention to spend $1,385,000 to retain a consultant to manage the improvement of wireless coverage within public buildings.

The fiscal year 2007 report is deficient in not providing a progress report on each public safety answering point, wireless service provider, and wireline provider, although it does report that the State moved from 14.8 per cent to 89.8 per cent deployment of wireless enhanced 911 service. That being the case and there being a $15,000,000 gap between the current fund balance and the proposed fiscal year 2008 expenditures, the legislature finds that it would appear the fund contains far in excess of the funds the board needs and that the surcharge should be reduced.

The legislature further finds that the wireless enhanced 911 board's administration of the wireless enhanced 911 fund has preempted both the department of health's statutory mandate to assist each county in the development of a 911 emergency telephone system and the county council's role in determining whether provision of wireless enhanced 911 services is a budget priority within their respective jurisdictions.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Reduce the wireless enhanced 911 surcharge to 43 cents;

(2) Provide that funds expended from the wireless enhanced 911 fund for reimbursement of capital costs shall supplement, but not supplant, funds regularly appropriated by the counties;

(3) Require the wireless enhanced 911 board to annualy present a plan to the legislature prior to each regular legislative session that:

(A) Specifies a surcharge no greater than is necessary to meet its expenses and planned expenditures; and

(B) Proposes to refund surplus surcharge funds;

and

(4) Require the Auditor to conduct a financial and management audit of the wireless enhanced 911 fund.

SECTION 2. Section 138-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a) A monthly wireless enhanced 911 surcharge, subject to this chapter, [~~shall~~] may be imposed upon each commercial mobile radio service connection.

(b) [~~The effective date of the surcharge shall be July 1, 2004.~~] The rate of the surcharge shall be set at [66] 43 cents per month for each commercial mobile radio service connection. The surcharge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed on each commercial mobile radio service connection operating within the [~~State~~] state except:

(1) Connections billed to federal, state, and county government entities; and

(2) Prepaid connections."

SECTION 3. Section 138-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) After January 1, 2005, every public safety answering point shall be eligible to seek reimbursement 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. Reimbursements under this section shall supplement but not supplant the funds regularly appropriated for these purposes. All other 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. For the purposes of this subsection, "operational expenses" include any charges for ongoing service provided by the local exchange carrier."

SECTION 4. Section 138-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§138-6[]] Report to the legislature. The board shall submit an annual report to the legislature[,] no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session of the legislature, beginning with the 2009 regular session, including:

(1) The total aggregate surcharge collected by the State in the last fiscal year;

(2) The amount of disbursement from the fund;

(3) The recipient of each disbursement and a description of the project for which the money was disbursed;

(4) The conditions, if any, placed by the board on disbursements from the fund;

(5) The planned expenditures from the fund in the next two fiscal [~~year;~~] years;

(6) The amount of any unexpended funds carried forward for the next fiscal year;

(7) A cost study to guide the legislature towards necessary adjustments to the fund and the monthly [~~surcharge;~~] surcharge that:

(A) Specifies the level of surcharge necessary to fund the board's expenses and planned expenditures; and

(B) Proposes to refund surcharge funds in excess of the funds necessary to fund the board's expenses and planned expenditures;

and

(8) A progress report of jurisdictional readiness for wireless E911 services, including each public safety answering [~~points,~~] point, wireless [~~providers,~~] service provider, and wireline [~~providers.~~] provider. The report shall include the status of requirements outlined in the Federal Communications Commission Order 94-102 and subsequent supporting orders related to phase I and phase II wireless 911 services."

SECTION 5. The auditor shall conduct a financial and management audit of the wireless enhanced 911 fund to address the following issues:

(1) The role the wireless enhanced 911 board should play in assisting the counties in deployment or operation of wireless enhanced 911 in light of the department of health's duties assigned pursuant to paragraph 321-224(a)(7) and 321-225(a)(6), Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the responsibility of the county councils to determine whether provision of wireless enhanced 911 services is a budget priority within their respective jurisdictions;

(2) Whether the statutory authority to reimburse the public safety answering points and the wireless service providers for costs incurred to deploy wireless enhanced 911 services includes, or should include:

(A) The ongoing cost of operating 911 call centers, including trunking line charges, answering position charges and long distance calling charges assessed by the local exchange carrier;

(B) The cost incurred for acquiring personnel services by contract that would be prohibited if acquired by hiring personnel; and

(3) Whether the wireless enhanced 911 board should be expending funds from the wireless enhanced 911 fund to purchase products for use by the public safety answering points rather than reimbursing the counties for those purchases;

(4) Whether the wireless enhanced 911 fund serves the purpose for which it was created and reflects a clear link between the benefit sought and charges made upon the users or beneficiaries of the program, as opposed to serving primarily as a means to provide the program or users with an automatic means of support which is removed from the normal budget and appropriations process; and

(5) Any other issues pertinent to the audit revealed by its review of the wireless enhanced 911 board's records and interviews of its personnel.

The auditor shall submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 regular session, containing findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation and identifying alternative forms of funding concerning how the wireless enhanced 911 fund has been managed and the moneys in the fund are expended.

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on June 29, 2008.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	3367
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII