Senate committee hears debate on lowering phone provider retention of 9‑1‑1 surcharge

Representative Todd Porter introduced House Bill 1096 to the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee, saying the bill would change how much of the local 9‑1‑1 surcharge phone companies may retain for administration. Porter described the evolution of the 9‑1‑1 surcharge from an early landline-era charge to a modern program largely funded by mobile-device surcharges and said the fiscal structure has not kept pace with technology.

The bill as introduced in the House would have limited originating service providers’ (OSPs’) administrative retention to 1 percent of the fee collected. At committee testimony in the Senate, stakeholders described a negotiated compromise of 2.5 percent that was acceptable to many carriers. Danelle Preski of the North Dakota Association of Counties (speaking for the North Dakota 9‑1‑1 Association) said, “We stand in support of this bill, and…