Massachusetts 9-1-1

	Wireline E911 was originally funded by a surcharge on directory assistance calling by residential Verizon customers who pay $0.34 per DA call after 10 free DA calls each month into a Verizon-managed fund used to support the public safety E911 telephone system, Relay services for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, and special devices for telephone access. Since the mid 1990's DA revenues have been less than the cost of these programs. House Bill 1751 (see Legislative History here), filed for many years and again in 2001-2, was designed to address this funding shortfall and provide a public process within the purview of DTE to balance revenues and costs so that the 911 program can continue. It passed into Law as Chapter 239 of the Acts of 2002 on August 9, 2002.

	The following is some text of the original and earlier versions.

AN ACT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FUNDING FOR CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 6A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 18G, the following new section:—
Section 18H. The department of telecommunications and shall promulgate rules providing for the recovery by telecommunication companies of expenses that have been, are, or will be incurred that are associated with the services pursuant to section 15E of chapter 166. With respect to any deficit incurred by the telephone companies prior to the effective date of this bill, the department of telecommunications and energy shall determine the portion of directory assistance revenues that will be, until December 31, 2007, used to offset that deficit, including any interest the department may determine should be applied. Additionally, said rules shall provide for the funding of the prudently incurred expenses by means of a charge on each voice grade exchange telephone line of business and residence customers within the Commonwealth; provided however, the surcharge applicable to centrex service shall be based on an equivalency provided to each private branch exchange trunk. In the development of the charge, all telephone companies shall submit to the department historical data verifying their participation in the statutory funding mechanism. The Department of Telecommunications and Energy shall annually report to the General Court concerning the financial condition of the fund and shall address in the report the reasonableness of the capital expenditures and related expenses of the Statewide Emergency Telecommunications Board incurred in complying with chapter 166, sections 14A and 15E.

SECTION 2. Chapter 291 of the acts of 1990 is hereby amended by striking out section 7 in its entirety.

SECTION 3. The department of telecommunications and energy shall develop a long term plan for funding enhanced 911 services; the department shall consider, among any and all the issues affecting the enhanced 911 system, (1) equitable payment of the costs of the system by all its beneficiaries and, (2) the changes and projected changes in technology comprising the enhanced 911 system. The department shall submit its recommendations and assessments to the committee on government regulations no later than December 31, 2006.

B. The Amendments to House 1751 (as recorded in the House Journal for March 27, 2002)

The House Bill relative to funding for certain telecommunications programs within the Commonwealth (House, No. 1751) (its title having been changed by the committee on Bills in the Third Reading), reported by said committee to be correctly drawn, was read a third time.

Pending the question on passing the bill to be engrossed, Mr. Marini of Hanson and other members of the House moved that it be amended in section 1, in line 6, by inserting after the word “be” the following: “, until December 31, 2007”, and by adding at the end of said section the following sentence: “The Department of Telecommunications and Energy shall annually report to the General Court concerning the financial condition of the fund and shall address in the report the reasonableness of the capital expenditures and related expenses of the Statewide Emergency Telecommunications Board incurred in complying with chapter 166, sections 14A and 15E.”; and by adding at the end of the bill the following section:

“SECTION 3. The department of telecommunications and energy shall develop a long term plan for funding enhanced 911 services; the department shall consider, among any and all the issues affecting the enhanced 911 system, (1) equitable payment of the costs of the system by all its beneficiaries and, (2) the changes and projected changes in technology comprising the enhanced 911 system. The department shall submit its recommendations and assessments to the committee on government regulations no later than December 31, 2006”.

The amendment was adopted; and the bill (House, No. 1751, amended) was passed to be engrossed. Sent to the Senate for concurrence.

AN ACT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FUNDING FOR CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 6A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1998 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 18G, the following new section:—
Section 18H. The department of telecommunications and shall promulgate rules providing for the recovery by telecommunication companies of expenses that have been, are, or will be incurred that are associated with the services pursuant to section 15E of chapter 166. With respect to any deficit incurred by the telephone companies prior to the effective date of this bill, the department of telecommunications and energy shall determine the portion of directory assistance revenues that will be used to offset that deficit, including any interest the department may determine should be applied. Additionally, said rules shall provide for the funding of the prudently incurred expenses by means of a charge on each voice grade exchange telephone line of business and residence customers within the Commonwealth; provided however, the surcharge applicable to centrex service shall be based on an equivalency provided to each private branch exchange trunk. In the development of the charge, all telephone companies shall submit to the department historical data verifying their participation in the statutory funding mechanism.

SECTION 2. Chapter 291 of the acts of 1990 is hereby amended by striking out section 7 in its entirety.