FCC Commissioner O’Rielly Continues Campaign to End 9-1-1-Fee Diversion

Emergency medical personnel, local politicians, and a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission all converged on Cranston (RI) Central Library Monday night for a summit on diversion of state funds from the 9-1-1 call center, organized by District 16’s Representative Robert Lancia.

The event focused on how to improve emergency response for people calling 9-1-1 who are in danger, especially in regards to long wait times, improving technology, and bettering the training of dispatchers.

The summit was spurred by a Lancia-led investigation into the state’s 9-1-1 call center, located at the State Police barracks in Scituate. According to Lancia, it is costing the state $5.4 million to run the center despite an operating budget of roughly $15 million. That money comes from a fee on every Rhode Islander’s phone bill that is allocated to 9-1-1. That fee is $1.00 per landline and $1.26 per cell phone line.

FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly confirmed Monday night that Rhode Island is "diverting" this money to its general fund, saying that Rhode Island is a "self-reporting diverting state." He said that because of this, he argues that Rhode Island would not be eligible for federal 9-1-1 funding grants this year, since they "have diverted in the past and have made no changes to its practices." He said $115 million in federal funding would be given out to 9-1-1 call centers this year.

Click here to read more on the RI summit, and here to learn more about Commissioner O'Reilly's efforts to curb fee-diversion.