HB2967 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 10890 SLF 21125 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB2967

Introduced , by Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

50 ILCS 750/15.4b
50 ILCS 750/20
50 ILCS 750/30
50 ILCS 750/99

Amends the Emergency Telephone System Act. Provides that each telecommunications carrier shall impose a monthly surcharge of $1.30 (rather than $0.87) per network connection; provided, however, the monthly surcharge shall not apply to a network connection provided for use with pay telephone services. Provides that each wireless carrier shall impose and collect a monthly surcharge of $1.30 (rather than $0.87) per CMRS connection that either has a telephone number within an area code assigned to Illinois by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator or has a billing address in this State. Provides that at least $0.87 of this surcharge per network or CMRS connection shall be deposited into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution to local Emergency Telephone System Boards. Provides that grants shall be distributed on a per capita basis, with priority to Emergency Telephone System Boards that received a disproportionately large number of ambulance or emergency medical service dispatch 9-1-1 calls based on the population served by the Board. Provides that data on 9-1-1 calls collected annually by the Department of State Police shall be used to determine priority of grant distributions. Extends the repeal date of the Act until July 1, 2022 (rather than July 1, 2017). Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Emergency Telephone System Act is amended by changing Sections 15.4b, 20, 30, and 99 as follows:

(50 ILCS 750/15.4b)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)

Sec. 15.4b. Consolidation grants.

(a) The Administrator, with the advice and recommendation of the Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board, shall administer a 9-1-1 System Consolidation Grant Program to defray costs associated with 9-1-1 system consolidation of systems outside of a municipality with a population in excess of 500,000. The awarded grants will be used to offset non-recurring costs associated with the consolidation of 9-1-1 systems and shall not be used for ongoing operating costs associated with the consolidated system. The Department, in consultation with the Administrator and the Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board, shall adopt rules defining the grant process and criteria for issuing the grants. The grants should be awarded based on criteria that include, but are not limited to:

(1) reducing the number of transfers of a 9-1-1 call;

(2) reducing the infrastructure required to adequately provide 9-1-1 network services;

(3) promoting cost savings from resource sharing among 9-1-1 systems;

(4) facilitating interoperability and resiliency for the receipt of 9-1-1 calls;

(5) reducing the number of 9-1-1 systems or reducing the number of PSAPs within a 9-1-1 system;

(6) cost saving resulting from 9-1-1 system consolidation; and

(7) expanding E9-1-1 service coverage as a result of 9-1-1 system consolidation including to areas without E9-1-1 service.

Priority shall be given first to counties not providing 9-1-1 service as of January 1, 2016, and next to other entities consolidating as required under Section 15.4a of this Act.

(b) The 9-1-1 System Consolidation Grant application, as defined by Department rules, shall be submitted electronically to the Administrator starting January 2, 2016, and every January 2 thereafter. The application shall include a modified 9-1-1 system plan as required by this Act in support of the consolidation plan. The Administrator shall have until June 30, 2016 and every June 30 thereafter to approve 9-1-1 System Consolidation grants and modified 9-1-1 system plans. Payment under the approved 9-1-1 System Consolidation grants shall be contingent upon the final approval of a modified 9-1-1 system plan.

(c) Existing and previously completed consolidation projects shall be eligible to apply for reimbursement of costs related to the consolidation incurred between 2010 and the State fiscal year of the application.

(d) The 9-1-1 systems that receive grants under this Section shall provide a report detailing grant fund usage to the Administrator pursuant to Section 40 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16.)

(50 ILCS 750/20)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)

Sec. 20. Statewide surcharge.

(a) On and after January 1, 2016, and except with respect to those customers who are subject to surcharges as provided in Sections 15.3 and 15.3a of this Act, a monthly surcharge shall be imposed on all customers of telecommunications carriers and wireless carriers as follows:

(1) Each telecommunications carrier shall impose a monthly surcharge of $1.30 $0.87 per network connection; provided, however, the monthly surcharge shall not apply to a network connection provided for use with pay telephone services. Where multiple voice grade communications channels are connected between the subscriber's premises and a public switched network through private branch exchange (PBX) or centrex type service there shall be imposed 5 such surcharges per network connection for both regular service and advanced service provisioned trunk lines.

(2) Each wireless carrier shall impose and collect a monthly surcharge of $1.30 $0.87 per CMRS connection that either has a telephone number within an area code assigned to Illinois by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator or has a billing address in this State. At least $0.87 of this surcharge per network or CMRS connection shall be deposited into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution to local Emergency Telephone System Boards.

(b) State and local taxes shall not apply to the surcharges imposed under this Section.

(c) The surcharges imposed by this Section shall be stated as a separately stated item on subscriber bills.

(d) The telecommunications carrier collecting the surcharge shall also be entitled to deduct 3% of the gross amount of surcharge collected to reimburse the telecommunications carrier for the expense of accounting and collecting the surcharge. On and after July 1, 2022, the wireless carrier collecting a surcharge under this Section shall be entitled to deduct up to 3% of the gross amount of the surcharge collected to reimburse the wireless carrier for the expense of accounting and collecting the surcharge.

(e) Surcharges imposed under this Section shall be collected by the carriers and, within 30 days of collection, remitted, either by check or electronic funds transfer, to the Department for deposit into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. Carriers are not required to remit surcharge moneys that are billed to subscribers but not yet collected.

The first remittance by wireless carriers shall include the number of subscribers by zip code, and the 9-digit zip code if currently being used or later implemented by the carrier, that shall be the means by which the Department shall determine distributions from the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. This information shall be updated at least once each year. Any carrier that fails to provide the zip code information required under this subsection (e) shall be subject to the penalty set forth in subsection (g) of this Section.

(f) If, within 5 business days it is due under subsection (e) of this Section, a carrier does not remit the surcharge or any portion thereof required under this Section, then the surcharge or portion thereof shall be deemed delinquent until paid in full, and the Department may impose a penalty against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:

(1) $25 for each month or portion of a month from the time an amount becomes delinquent until the amount is paid in full; or

(2) an amount equal to the product of 1% and the sum of all delinquent amounts for each month or portion of a month that the delinquent amounts remain unpaid.

A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (f) for a portion of a month during which the carrier pays the delinquent amount in full shall be prorated for each day of that month that the delinquent amount was paid in full. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (f) is in addition to the amount of the delinquency and is in addition to any other penalty imposed under this Section.

(g) If, within 5 business days after it is due, a wireless carrier does not provide the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section, then the report is deemed delinquent and the Department may impose a penalty against the carrier in an amount equal to the greater of:

(1) $25 for each month or portion of a month that the report is delinquent; or

(2) an amount equal to the product of $0.01 and the number of subscribers served by the carrier.

A penalty imposed in accordance with this subsection (g) for a portion of a month during which the carrier provides the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section shall be prorated for each day of that month during which the carrier had not provided the number of subscribers by zip code as required under subsection (e) of this Section. Any penalty imposed under this subsection (g) is in addition to any other penalty imposed under this Section.

(h) A penalty imposed and collected in accordance with subsection (f) or (g) of this Section shall be deposited into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund for distribution according to Section 30 of this Act.

(i) The Department may enforce the collection of any delinquent amount and any penalty due and unpaid under this Section by legal action or in any other manner by which the collection of debts due the State of Illinois may be enforced under the laws of this State. The Department may excuse the payment of any penalty imposed under this Section if the Administrator determines that the enforcement of this penalty is unjust.

(j) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, nothing shall impair the right of wireless carriers to recover compliance costs for all emergency communications services that are not reimbursed out of the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund directly from their wireless subscribers by line-item charges on the wireless subscriber's bill. Those compliance costs include all costs incurred by wireless carriers in complying with local, State, and federal regulatory or legislative mandates that require the transmission and receipt of emergency communications to and from the general public, including, but not limited to, E9-1-1.

(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16.)

(50 ILCS 750/30)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)

Sec. 30. Statewide 9-1-1 Fund; surcharge disbursement.

(a) A special fund in the State treasury known as the Wireless Service Emergency Fund shall be renamed the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. Any appropriations made from the Wireless Service Emergency Fund shall be payable from the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund. The Fund shall consist of the following:

(1) 9-1-1 wireless surcharges assessed under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act.

(2) 9-1-1 surcharges assessed under Section 20 of this Act.

(3) Prepaid wireless 9-1-1 surcharges assessed under Section 15 of the Prepaid Wireless 9-1-1 Surcharge Act.

(4) Any appropriations, grants, or gifts made to the Fund.

(5) Any income from interest, premiums, gains, or other earnings on moneys in the Fund.

(6) Money from any other source that is deposited in or transferred to the Fund.

(b) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall distribute the 9-1-1 surcharges monthly as follows:

(1) From each surcharge collected and remitted under Section 20 of this Act:

(A) $0.013 shall be distributed monthly in equal amounts to each County Emergency Telephone System Board or qualified governmental entity in counties with a population under 100,000 according to the most recent census data which is authorized to serve as a primary wireless 9-1-1 public safety answering point for the county and to provide wireless 9-1-1 service as prescribed by subsection (b) of Section 15.6a of this Act, and which does provide such service.

(B) $0.033 shall be transferred by the Comptroller at the direction of the Department to the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund until June 30, 2017; from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, $0.026 shall be transferred; from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, $0.020 shall be transferred; from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, $0.013 shall be transferred; from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, $0.007 will be transferred; and after June 30, 2021, no transfer shall be made to the Wireless Carrier Reimbursement Fund.

(C) $0.007 shall be used to cover the Department's administrative costs.

(2) After disbursements under paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), all remaining funds in the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund shall be disbursed in the following priority order:

(A) The Fund will pay monthly to:

(i) the 9-1-1 Authorities that imposed surcharges under Section 15.3 of this Act and were required to report to the Illinois Commerce Commission under Section 27 of the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act on October 1, 2014, except a 9-1-1 Authority in a municipality with a population in excess of 500,000, an amount equal to the average monthly wireline and VoIP surcharge revenue attributable to the most recent 12-month period reported to the Department under that Section for the October 1, 2014 filing, subject to the power of the Department to investigate the amount reported and adjust the number by order under Article X of the Public Utilities Act, so that the monthly amount paid under this item accurately reflects one-twelfth of the aggregate wireline and VoIP surcharge revenue properly attributable to the most recent 12-month period reported to the Commission; or

(ii) county qualified governmental entities that did not impose a surcharge under Section 15.3 as of December 31, 2015, and counties that did not impose a surcharge as of June 30, 2015, an amount equivalent to their population multiplied by .37 multiplied by the rate of $0.69; counties that are not county qualified governmental entities and that did not impose a surcharge as of December 31, 2015, shall not begin to receive the payment provided for in this subsection until E9-1-1 and wireless E9-1-1 services are provided within their counties; or

(iii) counties without 9-1-1 service that had a surcharge in place by December 31, 2015, an amount equivalent to their population multiplied by .37 multiplied by their surcharge rate as established by the referendum.

(B) All 9-1-1 network costs for systems outside of municipalities with a population of at least 500,000 shall be paid by the Department directly to the vendors.

(C) All expenses incurred by the Administrator and the Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board and costs associated with procurement under Section 15.6b including requests for information and requests for proposals.

(D) Funds may be held in reserve by the Statewide 9-1-1 Advisory Board and disbursed by the Department for grants under Sections 15.4a, 15.4b, and for NG9-1-1 expenses up to $12.5 million per year in State fiscal years 2016 and 2017; up to $23.1 million $13.5 million in State fiscal years 2017, year 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022; up to $14.4 million in State fiscal year 2019; up to $15.3 million in State fiscal year 2020; up to $16.2 million in State fiscal year 2021; up to $23.1 million in State fiscal year 2022; and up to $17.0 million per year for State fiscal year 2023 and each year thereafter.

(E) All remaining funds per remit month shall be used to make monthly proportional grants to the appropriate 9-1-1 Authority currently taking wireless 9-1-1 based upon the United States Postal Zip Code of the billing addresses of subscribers of wireless carriers.

(F) Grants shall be distributed on a per capita basis, with priority to Emergency Telephone System Boards that received a disproportionately large number of ambulance or emergency medical service dispatch 9-1-1 calls based on the population served by the Board. Data on 9-1-1 calls collected annually by the Department of State Police shall be used to determine priority of grant distributions.

(G) Entities which began the consolidation process on or before January 1, 2016 shall be eligible for reimbursement grants if the entity is otherwise eligible under this Act.

(c) The moneys deposited into the Statewide 9-1-1 Fund under this Section shall not be subject to administrative charges or chargebacks unless otherwise authorized by this Act.

(d) Whenever two or more 9-1-1 Authorities consolidate, the resulting Joint Emergency Telephone System Board shall be entitled to the monthly payments that had theretofore been made to each consolidating 9-1-1 Authority. Any reserves held by any consolidating 9-1-1 Authority shall be transferred to the resulting Joint Emergency Telephone System Board. Whenever a county that has no 9-1-1 service as of January 1, 2016 enters into an agreement to consolidate to create or join a Joint Emergency Telephone System Board, the Joint Emergency Telephone System Board shall be entitled to the monthly payments that would have otherwise been paid to the county if it had provided 9-1-1 service.

(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16.)

(50 ILCS 750/99)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2017)

Sec. 99. Repealer. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2022 2017.

(Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 6-29-15.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.