HB 1232-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
09/01
HOUSE BILL 1232-FN
AN ACT applying the enhanced 911 system surcharge to voice over Internet protocol telephone service providers.
SPONSORS: Rep. S. L’Heureux, Merr 9
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
This bill applies the enhanced 911 system surcharge which currently applies to landline and cellular telephone service providers to voice over Internet protocol telephone service providers.
This bill was requested by the department of safety.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2229
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT applying the enhanced 911 system surcharge to voice over Internet protocol telephone service providers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Statement of Purpose. Amend RSA 106-H:1 to read as follows:
106-H:1 Statement of Purpose. The general court of the state of New Hampshire declares that the interests of the state’s citizens will be served by a coordinated statewide enhanced 911 system, utilizing 911 as the primary emergency telephone number, which will develop and improve emergency communication procedures and facilities with the objective of reducing the response time to emergency calls for law enforcement, fire, medical, rescue, and other emergency services. Any service that provides a device capable of calling 911 must connect to the state of New Hampshire’s 911 public safety answering point, using protocols as required by the New Hampshire statewide enhanced 911 system as defined in RSA 106-H:8.
2 New Paragraph; Definitions; Provider. Amend RSA 106-H:2 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraph:
IX-a. “Provider” means a person, firm, or corporation that makes or supplies a device that can contact the 911 public safety answering point.
3 Definitions; Service Provider. Amend RSA 106-H:2, XIII-a to read as follows:
XIII-a. “Service provider” means a supplier of a device that meets the public need to access the 911 public safety answering point.
XIII-b. “Street address guide” or “SAG” means a listing of all numbered structures on each public or private way with multiple structures within the municipality.
4 Coordination by Provider of Telephone Service. Amend RSA 106-H:8 to read as follows:
106-H:8 Coordination by Provider of Telephone Service. Every telephone utility authorized to do business in the state pursuant to RSA 374:22, I and every entity which provides commercial mobile radio service, as defined in 47 C.F.R. section 20.3, and required by the Federal Communications Commission to provide 911 service, and every entity supplying any other device capable of contacting 911, shall make available the universal emergency telephone number 911 for use by the public in seeking assistance from fire, police, and other related safety agencies through a single public safety answering point. Each telephone service provider shall assure that [all requests for] a person requesting police, fire, medical, or other emergency services received by the provider or the provider’s operator services shall be transferred to the public safety answering point. Such transfer shall include the calling party’s telephone number and location in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) in a format recommended for data exchange by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). For purposes of implementing this chapter, any provider of commercial mobile radio service shall be entitled to reimbursement from the bureau of the reasonable expenses incurred to accomplish the provision of enhanced 911 service to the extent authorized by the Federal Communications Commission and approved by the enhanced 911 commission. The bureau may utilize the services of any other state agency or a consultant to assist in reviewing the requested reimbursement to insure that it is reasonable and may seek recovery of the expense of that review from the provider.
5 Funding; Surcharge. Amend RSA 106-H:9, I to read as follows:
I. The enhanced 911 system shall be funded through a surcharge to be levied upon each residence and business telephone exchange line, including PBX trunks and Centrex lines, each individual commercial mobile radio service number, or provider of any other service capable of contacting 911, and each semi-public and public coin and public access line. No such surcharge shall be imposed upon more than 25 business telephone exchange lines, including PBX trunks and Centrex lines, or more than 25 commercial mobile radio service exchange lines per customer billing account. In the case of local exchange telephone companies, the surcharge shall be contained within tariffs or rate schedules filed with the public utilities commission and shall be billed on a monthly basis by each local exchange telephone company. In the case of an entity which provides commercial mobile radio service, or any other access to 911, the surcharge shall be billed to each customer on a monthly basis and shall not be subject to any state or local tax; the surcharge shall be collected by the commercial mobile radio service provider or the provider of any other device capable of contacting 911, and may be identified on the customer’s bill. Each local exchange telephone company or entity which provides commercial mobile radio service or provider of any other service capable of contacting 911 shall remit the surcharge amounts on a monthly basis to the enhanced 911 services bureau, which shall be forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit in the enhanced 911 system fund. The state treasurer shall pay expenses incurred in the administration of the enhanced 911 system from such fund. Such fund shall not lapse. If the expenditure of additional funds over budget estimates is necessary for the proper functioning of the enhanced 911 system, the department of safety may request, with prior approval of the fiscal committee of the general court, the transfer of funds from the enhanced 911 system fund to the department of safety for such purposes. The moneys in the account shall not be used for any purpose other than the development and operation of enhanced 911 services, in accordance with the terms of this chapter. Surcharge amounts shall be reviewed after the budget has been approved or modified, and if appropriate, new tariffs or rate schedules shall be filed with the public utilities commission reflecting the surcharge amount.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
LBAO
06-2229
11/10/05
HB 1232-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT applying the enhanced 911 system surcharge to voice over Internet protocol telephone service providers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety determined this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state restricted revenue. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or state, county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety (DOS) stated this bill intends to apply the enhanced 911 surcharge to voice over Internet protocol telephone (VOIP) service providers. Currently VOIP providers are unregulated and not subject to the 42 cent enhanced 911 surcharge as the other wireless and wireline providers. The DOS cannot estimate the impact on state restricted revenue, because the bureau does not know the number of VOIP providers. Even with that information, there would not necessarily be an increase in restricted revenue of 42 cents times the number of VOIP provider customers who choose to switch to VOIP, because the customers could drop their other provider(s), which would translate into a negative revenue, positive revenue, or neutral situation. There will be no impact on state expenditures.