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House amends E9-1-1 fee, lawmakers debate including VoIP providers
Summary
The House passed an amended first-substitute H.B. 119 to reduce portions of the E9-1-1 fee and make local and state fee language identical, setting new rates while debating whether voice-over-IP services should be statutorily included; the House sent the bill to the Senate (47 yes, 17 no).
The Utah House on Friday amended and passed first-substitute House Bill 119, a measure that reduces portions of the E9-1-1 surcharge and clarifies how the fee applies to voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) services.
Representative D., the bill sponsor, said the measure has two parts: one that lowers local E9-1-1 charges and one that reduces the state portion while extending coverage to some VoIP providers. "We have lowered the fees in this bill on the local level from 65 to 61," the sponsor said, adding the state portion is reduced from 13¢ to 8¢. He described the change as a fee decrease made possible because the emergency system budget is sufficiently funded.
Debate focused on whether all VoIP providers should be subject to the surcharge. Representative Dougal and others urged caution, saying some VoIP providers are under contract to pay E9-1-1 fees while others — notably Skype, as discussed on the floor — may not fall under FCC rules and therefore could be difficult to regulate. "There are some that question whether we can actually regulate and tax this kind of service on the Internet as well," a member asked during floor discussion.
Representative Tilton supported striking broad language that would extend the fee to services not already under contract, citing equity concerns for small or nascent providers. Representative Dave Clark and other sponsors argued many larger VoIP carriers already participate voluntarily under contract and that the amendment adopted simply made the state and local portions consistent.
On the floor, lawmakers offered a substitute amendment to exclude new Internet-based services; that substitute failed. The House then adopted amendment #1 (which makes the local and state language identical) and approved the bill as amended. The Clerk recorded 47 yes votes and 17 no; the measure will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
Next steps: the bill goes to the Senate calendar; supporters said the change will reduce per-line fees and return surplus E9-1-1 funds to consumers, while opponents warned about enforcement and unintended impacts on emerging Internet telephony providers.
