Bill Text: WV HB4844 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Reforming the fees charged to wireless telephone subscribers for public safety systems to comply with federal law
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - To House Finance [HB4844 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2020-HB4844-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4844
By Delegate Howell
[Introduced February 11, 2020; Referred to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-6-6b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to reforming the fees charged to wireless telephone subscribers for public safety systems to comply with federal law; eliminating portions of the wireless enhanced 911 fee that are disbursed to state agencies; establishing a corresponding public safety wireless fee; providing for the collection and disbursement of the public safety wireless fee; and authorizing the promulgation of legislative and emergency rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-6b. Wireless enhanced 911 fee; public safety wireless fee.
(a) All CMRS providers as
defined in §24-6-2 of this code shall, on a monthly basis or otherwise for good
cause and as directed by order of the Public Service Commission, collect from
each of their in-state two-way service subscribers a wireless enhanced 911 fee and
a public safety wireless fee. As used in this section “in-state two-way
service subscriber” shall have has the same meaning as that set
forth in the rules of the Public Service Commission. No later than June 1,
2006, the Public Service Commission shall, after the receipt of comments and
the consideration of evidence presented at a hearing, issue an updated order
which directs the CMRS providers regarding all relevant details of wireless
enhanced 911 and public safety wireless fee collection, including the
determination of who is considered an in-state two-way service subscriber and
which shall specify how the CMRS providers shall deal with fee collection
shortfalls caused by uncollectible accounts. The Public Service Commission
shall solicit the views of the wireless telecommunications utilities prior to
issuing the order.
(b) The wireless enhanced
911 fee is $3 $3.47 per month and the public safety wireless
fee is 39 cents per month, for each valid retail commercial mobile radio
service subscription, as that term is defined by the Public Service Commission
in its order issued under subsection (a) of this section. Provided,
That beginning on July 1, 2005, the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall include 10¢
to be distributed to the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment
upgrades for improving and integrating their communication efforts with those
of the enhanced 911 systems: Provided, however, That for the fiscal year
beginning on July 1, 2005, and for every fiscal year thereafter, $1,000,000 of
the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public Service
Commission to subsidize the construction of towers. The moneys shall be
deposited in a fund administered by the West Virginia Public Service
Commission, entitled Enhanced 911 Wireless Tower Access Assistance Fund, and
shall be expended in accordance with an enhanced 911 wireless tower access
matching grant order adopted by the Public Service Commission. The commission
order shall contain terms and conditions designed to provide financial
assistance loans or grants to state agencies, political subdivisions of the
state and wireless telephone carriers for the acquisition, equipping and
construction of new wireless towers, which would provide enhanced 911 service
coverage and which would not be available otherwise due to marginal financial
viability of the applicable tower coverage area: Provided further, That the
grants shall be allocated among potential sites based on application from
county commissions demonstrating the need for enhanced 911 wireless coverage in
specific areas of this state. Any tower constructed with assistance from the
fund created by this subdivision shall be available for use by emergency
services, fire departments and law-enforcement agencies communication
equipment, so long as that use does not interfere with the carrier's wireless
signal: And provided further, That the Public Service Commission shall
promulgate rules in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code to effectuate the provisions of this subsection. The Public Service
Commission is specifically authorized to promulgate emergency rules: And
provided further, That for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2006, and
for every fiscal year thereafter, five percent of the wireless enhanced 911 fee
money received by the Public Service Commission shall be deposited in a special
fund established by the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
to be used solely for the construction, maintenance and upgrades of the West
Virginia Interoperable Radio Project and any other costs associated with
establishing and maintaining the infrastructure of the system. Any funds
remaining in this fund at the end of the fiscal year shall automatically be
reappropriated for the following year.
(c) Beginning in the year 1997
2022, and every two years thereafter, the Public Service Commission
shall conduct an audit of the wireless enhanced 911 fee and shall recalculate
the fee so that it is the weighted average rounded to the nearest penny, as of
March 1 of the respecification year, of all of the enhanced 911 fees imposed by
the counties which have adopted an enhanced 911 ordinance: Provided,
That the wireless enhanced 911 fee may never be increased by more than 25
percent of its value at the beginning of the respecification year: Provided,
however, That the fee may never be less than the amount set in subsection
(b) of this section. Provided further, That beginning on July
1, 2005, the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall include 10¢ to be distributed to
the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment upgrades for improving
and integrating their communication efforts with those of the enhanced 911
systems: And provided further, That beginning on July 1, 2005,
$1,000,000 of the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public
Service Commission to subsidize the construction of wireless towers as
specified in said subsection
(d) The CMRS providers
shall, after retaining a three-percent billing fee, send the wireless enhanced
911 fee and public safety wireless moneys collected, on a monthly basis,
to the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission shall, on a
quarterly and approximately evenly staggered basis, disburse the fee
revenue from these fees in the following manner:
(1) Each county that does
not have a 911 ordinance in effect as of the original effective date of this
section in the year 1997 or has enacted a 911 ordinance within the five years
prior to the original effective date of this section in the year 1997 shall
receive eight and one-half tenths of one percent of the fee revenues received
by the Public Service Commission: Provided, That after the effective
date of this section, in the year 2005, when two or more counties consolidate
into one county to provide government services, the consolidated county shall
receive one percent of the fee revenues received by the Public Service Commission
for itself and for each county merged into the consolidated county. Each county
shall receive eight and one-half tenths of one percent of the remainder of the
fee revenues received by the Public Service Commission; Provided, however,
That after the effective date of this section, in the year 2005, when two or
more counties consolidate into one county to provide government services, the
consolidated county shall receive one percent of the fee revenues received by
the Public Service Commission for itself and for each county merged into the
consolidated county. Then, from any moneys remaining, each county shall receive
a pro rata portion of that remainder based on that county's population as
determined in the most recent decennial census as a percentage of the state
total population. The Public Service Commission shall recalculate the county
disbursement percentages on a yearly basis, with the changes effective on July
1, and using data as of the preceding first day of March 1. The public
utilities which normally provide local exchange telecommunications service by
means of lines, wires, cables, optical fibers or by other means extended to
subscriber premises shall supply the data to the Public Service Commission on a
county specific basis no later than June 1 of each year;
(2) Counties which have an enhanced 911 ordinance in effect shall receive their share of the wireless enhanced 911 fee revenue for use in the same manner as the enhanced 911 fee revenues received by those counties pursuant to their enhanced 911 ordinances;
(3) The Public Service Commission shall deposit the wireless enhanced 911 fee revenue for each county which does not have an enhanced 911 ordinance in effect into an escrow account which it has established for that county. Any county with an escrow account may, immediately upon adopting an enhanced 911 ordinance, receive the moneys which have accumulated in the escrow account for use as specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection: Provided, That a county that adopts a 911 ordinance after the original effective date of this section in the year 1997 or has adopted a 911 ordinance within five years of the original effective date of this section in the year 1997 shall continue to receive one percent of the total 911 fee revenue for a period of five years following the adoption of the ordinance. Thereafter, each county shall receive that county's eight and one-half tenths of one percent of the remaining fee revenue, plus that county's additional pro rata portion of the fee revenues then remaining, based on that county's population as determined in the most recent decennial census as a percentage of the state total population: Provided, however, That every five years from the year 1997, all fee revenue residing in escrow accounts shall be disbursed on the pro rata basis specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection, except that data for counties without enhanced 911 ordinances in effect shall be omitted from the calculation and all escrow accounts shall begin again with a zero balance.
(e) The Public Service Commission shall, on a quarterly and approximately evenly staggered basis, disburse the public safety wireless fee revenue in the following manner:
(1) Ten cents of each month’s fee collected shall be
distributed to the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment upgrades
for improving and integrating their communication efforts with those of the
enhanced 911 systems;
(2) Nineteen cents of each month’s fee collected shall be deposited in a special revenue account established by the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to be used solely for the construction, maintenance, and upgrades of the West Virginia Interoperable Radio Project and any other costs associated with establishing and maintaining the infrastructure of the system. Any funds remaining in this fund at the end of the fiscal year shall automatically be reappropriated for the following year; and
(3) Ten cents of each monthly fee collected shall be deposited in a fund administered by the Public Service Commission, named the Enhanced 911 Wireless Tower Access Assistance Fund. The moneys shall be expended in accordance with an enhanced 911 wireless tower access matching grant order adopted by the Public Service Commission to subsidize the construction of wireless towers in underserved areas. The commission order shall contain terms and conditions designed to provide financial assistance loans or grants to state agencies. political subdivisions of the state and wireless telephone carriers for the acquisition, equipping and construction of new wireless towers, which would provide enhanced 911 service coverage and which would not be available otherwise due to marginal financial viability of the applicable tower coverage area: Provided, That the grants shall be allocated among potential sites based on application from county commissions demonstrating the need for enhanced 911 wireless coverage in specific areas of this state. Any tower constructed with assistance from the fund created by this subdivision shall be available for use by emergency services, fire departments, and law-enforcement agencies communication equipment, so long as that use does not interfere with the carrier's wireless signal.
(e) (f) CMRS providers have the same rights and
responsibilities as other telephone service suppliers in dealing with the
failure by a subscriber of a CMRS provider to timely pay the wireless enhanced
911 fee.
(f) (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of section
one-a of this article, for the purposes of this section, the term “county”
means one of the counties provided in section one, article one, chapter one of
this code.
(g) From any funds
distributed to a county pursuant to this section, a total of three percent
shall be set aside in a special fund to be used exclusively for the purchase of
equipment that will provide information regarding the x and y coordinates of
persons who call an emergency telephone system through a commercial mobile
radio service: Provided, That upon purchase of the necessary equipment,
the special fund shall be dissolved and any surplus shall be used for general
operation of the emergency telephone system as may otherwise be provided by law
(h) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in this code, beginning July 1, 2008 prepaid
wireless calling service is no longer not subject to the wireless
enhanced 911 fee and the public safety wireless fee.
(i) The Public Service Commission shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to effectuate the provisions of this section. In addition, the Public Service Commission is authorized to promulgate corresponding emergency rules pursuant to the provisions of §29A-3-15 of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to divide the existing Wireless 911 fee into two separate fees, allocating the proceeds to different projects and purposes in order to comply with federal law. This bill does not increase the fees currently billed to wireless customer, but simply splits the current fee to serve different functions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
