This page is set up by the boards of the NC Chapters of NENA and APCO
to keep our members informed of Legislative Issues we are facing in the State of North Carolina.

Information will be posted as it is received by the boards, so check back often. 
 

Here are some links that you may find beneficial.

 QUICK REFERENCE LINKS:

 North Carolina County Commissioners Association
http://www.ncacc.org

 North Carolina Senate
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Senate/Senate.html

 North Carolina House of Representatives
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/House/House.html

North Carolina Legislation Page (A place to look up Bills)
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/legislation/legislation.html

North Carolina Records Retention & Disposition Schedule
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/records/local

The Project LOCATE Final Report
"An Assessment of the Value of Location Data Delivered to PSAPs with Enhanced Wireless 911 Calls"
http://www.locatemodelcities.org/documents/LOCATE_Final_Report.pdf

Current Legislation of Interest to PSAPS!

2007 House Bill H1755v6
Coordinated Statewide Enhanced 9-1-1 System
Ratified & sent to Governor
July 27, 2007

Surcharge Freeze

NC General Statute 62A

Public Records Law - Senate Bill 426

Public Records Law as it Pertains to Criminal Investigations - Senate Bill 461

 Current North Carolina Legislative Issues

 News/Updates/Current Information

**

Proposed Changes Presented by Richard Taylor, Executive Director from the NC Wireless Board.  These were organized by Mr. Taylor from multiple information he received from past meetings of the NC Chapters of APCO/NENA and discussions with the NC Wireline Telephone Companies.

 PRINCIPLES FOR PROPOSED 911 LEGISLATION

1. Achieve parity between wireline and wireless 911 surcharges by capping all 911 rates at 70¢.  In exchange for such parity, telecommunications companies will continue to collect 911 charges, rather than shifting the collection burden to local counties and municipalities.
    

2. Change the 911 Wireless Board to an E-911 Service Board and expand the authority of the Board to include overseeing and administering both the wireless and wireline 911 networks.  The new 911 Board would have the authority to review and audit all 911 expenditures by local PSAPs.
    

3. Enlarge the Wireless Board’s existing membership to include an equal number of wireline and wireless representatives, along with a corresponding number of public sector representatives.
    

4. Require the new 911 Board to ensuring equitable and sufficient funding for 911 services across all parts of the State.
    

5. Expand the collection of 911 surcharges to include VoIP by requiring any service provider accessing the 911 network to pay a surcharge.
    

6. Expand the use of 911 funds to include specific in-state training functions (perhaps through the Community College System) related to the operation of the 911 system.
    

* * * *

 Proposed Changes Presented by the NC 911 Managers Group
as a counter offer to the above proposals.

 PRINCIPLES FOR PROPOSED LEGISLATION

1. Training that is necessary for 9-1-1 operations should be an eligible surcharge expense and should be appropriate regardless of where the instruction is received and who provides it.
    

2. The collection of 9-1-1 funds should be expanded to include VoIP and any system that can access 9-1-1 networks.
    

3. The State E9-1-1 Board should be composed of equal representation of 9-1-1 Managers/Directors and Telephone Companies only. The board would consist of a Manager/Director of a small, medium and large county along with a representative from N.E.N.A. and A.P.C.O. organizations who are employed as a Manager/Director.  If it is necessary for the telephone companies to have more than five representatives, then an equal number of 9-1-1 Managers/Directors would be chosen from either a small, medium or large county or municipality. North Carolina state government would designate a State 9-1-1 director who would vote only in case of a deadlock on an issue and act as chairman. The E9-1-1 Board’s primary function would be to improve service of 9-1-1 operations throughout the State of North Carolina and collect and             distribute wireless 9-1-1 surcharges fee.
    

4. Wireline eligible expenses and Wireless eligible expenses should have parity. If an item qualifies as an expense under wireline legislation, wireless surcharge collected fees should be able to acquire in its entirety with no percentage allocation. Eligible expenses would be reviewed and approved by the E9-1-1 Board every two years with an exemptions in the interim period the results of a special petition by the PSAP and approval by the board.
    

5. A possible cap on wireline and wireless surcharges fees will be determined after a study of data from North Carolina municipalities and counties that will include 9-1-1 tariff charges, equipment expenditures, other items approved eligible by the board and access lines. All telephone 9-1-1 tariff increases should be accompanied by an appropriate surcharge adjustment in order to recover costs. A final recommendation will be determined by the E9-1-1 Board and presented to the General Assembly in two years.
    

6. The State E9-1-1 Board would receive annual audits of 9-1-1 expenditures performed by the city or county with a provision or contest any inappropriate expense and mandate reimbursement under penalty of a municipality or county losing he ability to collect either a wireline ore wireless surcharge. The E9-1-1 Board will not approve any expenditure nor will permission be required for any municipality or county to do so before purchasing an item listed as an eligible expense. Audit reports will contain, if appropriate resolutions by respective jurisdiction outlining items that are part of capital improvement, replacement cost recover, etc. that are eligible expenses that necessitate building a fund balance over multiple years to purchase. Counties and municipalities will adjust their surcharge amounts annually to balance expenses, revenues and projected future improvements that were approved by resolution.
    

* * * *

 Proposed changes after a Joint Meeting between the NC Chapters of NENA/APCO
and the NC Communications Managers Group to try to find common issues
that will meet the needs of all groups involved.

NORTH CAROLINA NENA/APCO/9-1-1 MANAGERS GROUP

PROPOSED LEGISLATION

1. Training that is necessary for 911 operations should be an eligible surcharge expense and should be appropriate regardless of where the instruction is received and who provides it.
    

2. The collection of 911 funds should be expanded to include VoIP and any system that can access 911 networks.
    

3. The State E911 Board should be composed of equal representation of 911 Managers/Directors and Telephone Companies only. The board would consist of a Manager/Director of a small, medium and large county along with a representative from N.E.N.A and A.P.C.O. organizations who are employed as a Manager/Director.  If it is necessary for the telephone companies to have more than five representatives then an equal number of 911 Managers/Directors would be chosen from either a small, medium or large county or municipality. North Carolina state government would designate a State 911 director who would vote only in case of a deadlock on an issue and act as chairman. The E911 Board's primary function would be to improve service of 911 operations throughout the State of North Carolina and collect and distribute wireless 911 surcharge fees.
    

4. Wire-line eligible expenses and Wireless eligible expenses should have parity. If an item qualifies as an expense under wire-line legislation, wireless surcharge collected fees should be able to acquire in its entirety with no percentage allocation. Eligible expenses would be required to be developed by the E911 board subject to review and approval by the E911 board every two years with any exemptions in the interim period the result of a special petition by the PSAP and approval by the board according to a specific appeals process.
    

5. The State E911 board would receive annual audits of 911 expenditures performed by the city or county with a provision to contest any inappropriate expense and mandate reimbursement under penalty of a municipality or county losing the ability to collect either a wire-line or wireless surcharge. The E911 Board will not approve any expenditure nor will permission be required for any municipality or county to do so before purchasing any item listed as an eligible expense. Audit reports will contain if appropriate resolutions by respective jurisdiction outlining items that are part of capital improvement, replacement cost recovery etc that are eligible expenses that necessitate building a fund balance over multiple years to purchase. County's and municipalities will adjust their surcharge amounts annually to balance expenses, revenues and projected future improvements that were approved by resolution.
    

6. A possible cap on Wire-line and Wireless surcharge fees will be determined after a study of data from North Carolina municipalities and counties that will include 911 tariff charges, equipment expenditures, other items approved eligible by the board and access lines. All telephone 911 tariff increases should be accompanied by an appropriate surcharge adjustment in order to recover costs. A final recommendation will be determined by the E911 Board and presented to the General assembly in two years.
    

 
***

Proposed changes from NC Representative Jim Blackburn
after a discussion with the NC Chapter of NENA/APCO Presidents
and conferring with his designees from the NCACC.

PRINCIPLES - EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM FUND

1. Cap land line fees adopted by local governing bodies at no less than $1 per month.
    

2. Retain revenues from land line fees collected at the local level in the communities where collected.
    

3. Hold harmless those jurisdictions whose fees are reduced by the cap.
    

4.  Increase flexibility in use of landline fee revenues and wireless fee revenues to include training without restricting locations or institutions at which training can be offered.
    

5. Provide for auditing of local funds by the Local Government Commission within the office of State Treasurer with audit information available to the Wireless Board.
    

6. Assure continued majority membership by public representation on the wireless Board or any expanded Board.
    

7. Clarify, to the extent necessary, provisions of GS 62A-8 delineating those expenditures that may and may not be the subject of local funds.
    

* * * *

 All of the above information is being reviewed by the JOINT LEGISLATIVE UTILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE.
You can find out more on this at this link:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/committee_lists/interimcommittees.pl?nBoardID=204

Here you will find out who is on this committee for contacts so that you can contact these representatives to express your concerns to them concerning this proposed legislative change to 62A.

Thanks for visiting the NC NENA and NC APCO Legislative page
We hope your visit has been informative and helpful