By: Miles S.B. No. 2860
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the emergency service fee collected by a wireless
service provider
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 771.0711, Health and Safety, is amended
by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding subsections
(c-1), (c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows:
(a) To provide for automatic number identification an
automatic location identification of wireless 9-1-1 calls and to
support the deployment and reliable operation of next generation
9-1-1 service, the commission shall impose on each wireless
telecommunications connection a 9-1-1 emergency service fee. A
political subdivision may not impose another fee on a wireless
service provider or subscriber for 9-1-1 emergency service.
(b) A wireless service provider shall collect the fee in an
amount equal to 50 cents a month with an adjustment on January 1 of
each odd numbered year of not more than one half of the actual total
percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the United States Department of Labor, from the effective date
of this subsection for each wireless telecommunications connection
from its subscribers and shall pay the money collected to the
comptroller not later than the 30th say after the last day of the
month during which the fees were collected. The comptroller may
establish alternative dates for payment of fees under this section.
The wireless service provider may retain an administrative fee of
one percent of the amount collected. The comptroller shall deposit
the money from the dees to the credit of the 9-1-1 services fee
account. Until deposited to the credit of the 9-1-1 services fee
account as required by Subsection (c), money the comptroller
collects under this subsection remains in a trust fund in the state
treasury.
(c) Money collected under Subsection (b) may be used only:
(1) for services related to 9-1-1 services, including
automatic number identification and automatic location information
services;
(2) to support the deployment and reliable operation
of next generation 9-1-1 service;[,] or
(3) as authorized by Section 771.079(c).
(c-1) Except as provided by Subsection (c-2), not [Not] later
than the 15th day after the end of the month in which the money is
collected under Subsection (b), the commission shall distribute to
each emergency communication district that does not participate in
the state system a portion of the money that bears the same
proportion to the total amount collected that the population of the
area served by the district bears to the population of the state.
(c-2) For each emergency communication district created
under Chapter 772 entitled to a portion of the money distributed
under Subsection (c-1), the commission shall:
(1) reduce the portion to which the district is
entitled by an amount equal to three percent of the portion and
distribute that amount in equal shares to all the emergency
communication districts created under Chapter 772; and
(2) distribute to the district the remainder of the
portion to which the district is entitled under Subsection (c-1)
that is not distributed under Subdivision (1).
(c-3) The remaining money collected under Subsection (b)
that is not otherwise distributed under Subsection (c-1) or (c-2)
shall be deposited to the 9-1-1 services fee account.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply
beginning with the state fiscal biennium that begins September 1,
2025.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.