CSHB 461(STA): "An Act relating to enhanced 911 surcharges and to 911 and emergency services dispatch systems."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 461(STA) 01 "An Act relating to enhanced 911 surcharges and to 911 and emergency services 02 dispatch systems." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.50.250 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 09.50.250. Actionable claims against the state. A person or corporation 06 having a contract, quasi-contract, or tort claim against the state may bring an action 07 against the state. A person who may present the claim under AS 44.77 may not bring 08 an action under this section except as set out in AS 44.77.040(c). A person who may 09 bring an action under AS 36.30.560 - 36.30.695 may not bring an action under this 10 section except as set out in AS 36.30.685. However, an action may not be brought if 11 the claim 12 (1) is an action for tort, and is based upon an act or omission of an 13 employee of the state, exercising due care, in the execution of a statute or regulation, 14 whether or not the statute or regulation is valid; or is an action for tort, and based upon
01 the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary 02 function or duty on the part of a state agency or an employee of the state, whether or 03 not the discretion involved is abused; 04 (2) is for damages caused by the imposition or establishment of a 05 quarantine by the state; 06 (3) arises out of assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, 07 malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or 08 interference with contract rights; 09 (4) arises out of the use of an ignition interlock device certified under 10 AS 33.05.020(c); [OR] 11 (5) arises out of injury, illness, or death of a seaman that occurs or 12 manifests itself during or in the course of, or arises out of, employment with the state; 13 AS 23.30 provides the exclusive remedy for such a claim, and no action may be 14 brought against the state, its vessels, or its employees under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. 15 688), in admiralty, or under the general maritime law; or 16 (6) is based on the exercise or performance of a duty in connection 17 with an emergency services dispatch system or an enhanced 911 system, 18 including providing, maintaining, or operating any toll-free, statewide default 19 public safety answering point, and is not based on an intentional act or omission 20 amounting to misconduct or on an act or omission amounting to gross negligence. 21 * Sec. 2. AS 09.65.070(d) is amended to read: 22 (d) An action for damages may not be brought against a municipality or any of 23 its agents, officers, or employees if the claim is based on 24 (1) [IS BASED ON] a failure of the municipality, or its agents, 25 officers, or employees, when the municipality is neither owner nor lessee of the 26 property involved, to 27 (A) [TO] inspect property for a violation of any statute, 28 regulation, or ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety; 29 (B) [TO] discover a violation of any statute, regulation, or 30 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety if an inspection of property is made; 31 or
01 (C) [TO] abate a violation of any statute, regulation, or 02 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety discovered on property inspected; 03 (2) [IS BASED UPON] the exercise or performance or the failure to 04 exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty by a municipality or its agents, 05 officers, or employees, whether or not the discretion involved is abused; 06 (3) [IS BASED UPON] the grant, issuance, refusal, suspension, delay, 07 or denial of a license, permit, appeal, approval, exception, variance, or other 08 entitlement, or a rezoning; 09 (4) [IS BASED ON] the exercise or performance during the course of 10 gratuitous extension of municipal services on an extraterritorial basis; 11 (5) [IS BASED UPON] the exercise or performance of a duty or 12 function upon the request of, or by the terms of an agreement or contract with, the 13 state to meet emergency public safety requirements; or 14 (6) [IS BASED ON] the exercise or performance of a duty in 15 connection with an emergency services dispatch system or enhanced 911 emergency 16 system and is not based on an intentional act of misconduct or on an act of gross 17 negligence. 18 * Sec. 3. AS 29.10.200(37) is amended to read: 19 (37) AS 29.35.131 (emergency services dispatch system and 20 enhanced 911 system); 21 * Sec. 4. AS 29.35.131(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) A municipality may [,] by [RESOLUTION OR] ordinance [,] elect to 23 provide an emergency services dispatch system or an enhanced 911 system at public 24 safety answering points, may purchase or lease the enhanced 911 equipment or service 25 required to establish or maintain an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering 26 points from a local exchange telephone company, competitive local exchange 27 telephone company, or other qualified vendor, and may impose an enhanced 911 28 surcharge, in an amount to be determined by the municipality, on all local exchange 29 access lines that provide telephone service to wireline telephones in the area to be 30 served by the enhanced 911 system. A municipality that provides services under an 31 enhanced 911 system may also by [RESOLUTION OR] ordinance impose an
01 enhanced 911 surcharge on each wireless telephone number that is billed to an address 02 within the enhanced 911 service area. The [FOR A MUNICIPALITY WITH A 03 POPULATION OF 100,000 OR MORE, AN] enhanced 911 surcharge may be 04 imposed each [MAY NOT EXCEED 50 CENTS PER] month for each wireless 05 telephone number or each [50 CENTS PER] month for each local exchange billing 06 statement [ACCESS LINE] for wireline telephones. [FOR A MUNICIPALITY 07 WITH FEWER THAN 100,000 PEOPLE, AN ENHANCED 911 SURCHARGE 08 MAY NOT EXCEED 75 CENTS PER MONTH FOR EACH WIRELESS 09 TELEPHONE NUMBER OR 75 CENTS PER MONTH FOR EACH LOCAL 10 EXCHANGE ACCESS LINE FOR WIRELINE TELEPHONES.] An enhanced 11 service area may be all of a city, all of a unified municipality, or all or part of the area 12 within a borough and may include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality in 13 accordance with AS 29.35.020. The governing body of a municipality shall review an 14 enhanced 911 surcharge annually to determine whether the current level of the 15 surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated enhanced 911 16 system needs. The municipality may [ONLY] use the enhanced 911 surcharge for the 17 enhanced 911 system and for the actual labor and equipment used to provide 18 emergency services dispatch, but not for costs of providing the medical, police, 19 fire, rescue, or other emergency service, or for any other purpose. 20 * Sec. 5. AS 29.35.131(b) is amended to read: 21 (b) A local exchange telephone company, or competitive local exchange 22 telephone company, providing service in a municipality that has imposed an 23 enhanced 911 surcharge shall bill each month and collect the surcharge from 24 customers in the enhanced 911 service area. A wireless telephone company or 25 wireless reseller that provides telephone service to wireless telephone customers with 26 billing addresses within the enhanced 911 service area shall impose the [AN 27 ENHANCED 911] surcharge each month and collect the surcharge from customers in 28 the enhanced 911 service area. A residential local exchange telephone customer may 29 not be subject to more than one enhanced 911 surcharge on a local exchange billing 30 statement [ACCESS LINE] for a wireline telephone. A wireless telephone customer 31 may not be subject to more than one enhanced 911 surcharge for each wireless
01 telephone number. [A CUSTOMER THAT HAS MORE THAN 100 LOCAL 02 EXCHANGE ACCESS LINES FROM A LOCAL EXCHANGE TELEPHONE 03 COMPANY IN THE MUNICIPALITY IS LIABLE FOR THE ENHANCED 911 04 SURCHARGE ONLY ON 100 LOCAL EXCHANGE ACCESS LINES.] 05 * Sec. 6. AS 29.35.131(c) is amended to read: 06 (c) A local exchange telephone company, a competitive local exchange 07 telephone company, a wireless reseller, or a wireless telephone company shall 08 include the appropriate enhanced 911 surcharge, stated separately and included in the 09 total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its customers. The Regulatory 10 Commission of Alaska may not consider the enhanced 911 surcharge as revenue of the 11 telephone company [AND HAS NO JURISDICTION OVER AN ENHANCED 911 12 SYSTEM]. A customer is liable for payment of the enhanced 911 surcharge in the 13 amounts billed by the telephone company until the amounts have been paid to the 14 telephone company. 15 * Sec. 7. AS 29.35.131 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 16 (i) A municipality may by ordinance elect to impose a point-of-purchase 911 17 surcharge from prepaid wireless telephone accounts not to exceed one percent of the 18 purchase value. The surcharge must apply to initial purchases and to subsequent 19 purchases of air time. The retailer of the wireless account is responsible for remitting 20 the surcharge to the municipality. 21 (j) To enable each municipality to qualify for grant funding, the governor is 22 responsible for certifying the collection and use of all 911 surcharges. 23 * Sec. 8. AS 29.35.133(a) is amended to read: 24 (a) The establishment, funding, use, operation, or maintenance of enhanced 25 911 or emergency services dispatch systems and all activities associated with those 26 actions are specifically found to be within the ambit of AS 09.50.250(6) 27 [AS 09.50.250(1)] and AS 09.65.070(d)(6). Except for intentional acts of misconduct 28 or gross negligence, a service supplier, local exchange telephone company, 29 competitive local exchange telephone company, wireless reseller, or wireless 30 telephone company and their employees and agents are also immune from tort liability 31 that might otherwise be incurred in the course of installing, training, maintaining, or
01 providing enhanced 911 systems or transmitting or receiving calls on the system. 02 * Sec. 9. AS 29.35.137 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 03 (12) "emergency services dispatch" means a service that provides 04 continuous day and night dispatch of emergency medical, police, fire, or rescue 05 services using enhanced 911 facilities.