Rhode Island House Speaker Won't Take Up 911 Fee Diversion Outside Budget

Prospects again seem iffy for Rhode Island lawmakers to stop 911 fee diversion this session. Advocates told us they’re trying to build momentum outside the State House. The House Finance Committee plans Wednesday to hear testimony on H-5933 by Rep. John Lyle and four other Republicans. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D) told us the matter should be taken up in the budget process, and only if Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) edits her proposed budget that doesn't end the practice. Similar Republican bills failed in previous sessions under a Democratic political trifecta.

Lyle’s bill would create a restricted receipt account for all 911 funds and require they be used only for emergency communications. It would let the Public Utilities Commission reduce such surcharges if they exceed what’s needed. Rhode Island diverted 67.8 percent ($11.4 million) of 911 fee revenue for unrelated purposes in 2017, said the FCC’s latest report on state fees (see 1812190059). That's behind only New York and New Jersey in dollars diverted. State diversion is holding back potentially life-saving next-generation features, New Jersey county officials said in our recent Special Report (see 1904230021). FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urges governors of all three states to stop (see 1904090047).

The Republican bill “will be reviewed as part of the legislative process, but issues such as those are addressed as part of the budget deliberations,” said Mattiello in a statement to us. Raimondo, who last year asserted that Republican O’Rielly’s effort to end Rhode Island diversion was politically motivated (see 1806210026), this year proposed continuing the practice of putting 911 revenue into the general fund in the budget. “If the Governor submits an amendment to create such a restricted receipt account for the 911 fees, as well as plan how to fill the budget shortfall it would create, the House Finance Committee will consider it as part of the budget process,” Mattiello said. Raimondo didn’t comment.

“I don’t really see the Democrat majority really caring about any bill a Republican puts in,” emailed former Rep. Bob Lancia, a Republican who lost his seat in November’s election after authoring past bills to end the fee diversion. He said Lyle hasn’t reached out. With two seats lost last election, the House GOP contingent is down to nine out of 75 seats, he said. “The pressure will have to come from the outside.” Lancia said he recently contacted Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., who has a federal bill meant to stop state diversion: “I would like to get someone like him to come to Rhode Island … to keep it in the news here in Rhode Island.”

Advocates fighting Rhode Island diversion met with Lyle and some other lawmakers Wednesday about the bill, said Robin Giacomini, an X-ray technician who started advocating on 911 fee diversion after learning about the issue on the radio and attending a summit hosted by Lancia in March 2018 (see 1803200052). She plans to testify in support of HB-5933 at Wednesday’s hearing, she emailed Thursday. Giacomini is trying to set up a meeting with Mattiello but hasn’t heard back, she said. Lyle didn't comment.

“We’re aware of the fact that it’s a very big possibility none of this will change in this legislative cycle,” but “it’s not something that’s going away,” Giacomini said in an interview last month. It’s wrong to tell consumers the fees are going to 911 when they are really going into the state general fund, particularly when that funding is needed to upgrade the systems, she said. “The whole system is deficient because of a lack of oversight.”

Advocates are asking local governments sign resolutions urging the state to stop diversion. Health Care Revolt set up a petition. Advocates are initially bringing the resolution to a few towns and cities, possibly including Providence, Scituate and Central Falls, said Health Care Revolt organizer and former Rhode Island Health Department Director Michael Fine in an interview. Fine wants to reach 10,000 signatures on the petition -- about 1 percent of the state’s population. It had about 550 by Friday. Diversion means less money to spend on needed technology like location and translation capabilities, said Fine. “We start off behind the eight ball because we don’t have the adequate money … to run a robust system.”

Town council members in Burrillville unanimously agreed to a resolution at an April 24 meeting. “Since 2002, the State of Rhode Island has comingled in general revenue on average 55% of fees collected but not dedicated to E-911 services,” said the resolution emailed to us by the town clerk. “We … support fully funded E-911 statewide services.” Local resident Paul Roselli testified that the town’s police department needs money to upgrade 911. “The money that we pay every month that goes into the 911 system is supposed to be used for not only training, but also municipal equipment purchases,” he said. “But it’s not.”