Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/20/2018 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB215 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 20, 2018
3:31 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Click Bishop, Chair
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 215
"An Act relating to multi-line telephone systems."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 215
SHORT TITLE: ENHANCED 911:MULTI-LINE TELEPHONE SYSTEMS
SPONSOR(s): JUDICIARY
03/07/18 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/07/18 (S) CRA
03/20/18 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
JORDAN SHILLING, staff to Senator Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 215 for Senator Coghill,
Chair, Senate Judiciary Committee.
DAVID GIBBS
Emergency Operations Director
Fairbanks North Star Borough
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 215.
JILL DOLAN, North Star Borough Attorney
Fairbanks North Star Borough
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 215.
KATHIE WASSERMAN, Executive Director
Alaska Municipal League (AML)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 215
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:31:12 PM
CHAIR CLICK BISHOP called the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. Present
at the call to order were Senators MacKinnon, Stedman, Hoffman,
Gardner, and Chair Bishop.
SB 215-ENHANCED 911:MULTI-LINE TELEPHONE SYSTEMS
3:32:10 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced consideration of SB 215.
JORDAN SHILLING, staff to Senator Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, said SB 215 was introduced by the
Senate Judiciary Committee. It relates to multi-line telephone
systems (MLTS) that are used in places like large hotels or
legislatures.
If a municipality chooses to adopt the ordinance that is in SB
215 it ensures that when a person-in-need calls 911 that their
exact physical location information travels along with them to
the dispatch office so that first responders aren't delayed.
MR. SHILLING explained that a large number of end-users use MLTS
that do not have the same level of enhanced 911 capabilities
that small businesses and residential phone systems have, which
aren't multi-line telephone systems. Tragedies can occur when
emergency callers are unable to provide the specific location
within a large building or complex, either because the caller is
unaware of his exact location or he is unable to convey his
physical location for whatever reason.
3:34:29 PM
He displayed an overhead picture of the University of Alaska
Fairbanks (UAF) campus that uses an MLTS that does not have
enhanced 911 (E911) capabilities. So, if a call were to be made
on West Ridge up on a hill on the other side of campus from the
third floor, room 307, it would appear to the dispatch office
that the call is actually being made from a mile away at the
central phone system location, an example of a situation this
bill would hope to ameliorate if the Fairbanks municipality were
to adopt an ordinance requiring these systems have E911
capabilities.
MR. SHILLING summarized that SB 215 gives municipalities the
option by ordinance to require (by January 1, 2019) future MLTS
operators to provide an automatic location information (ALI)
record for every telephone that is capable of dialing 911. The
phone system must also allow callers to call 911 without dialing
a prefix ahead of time, as some phone systems require dialing 9
to get out of the building and some existing MLTS operations
still require someone to enter a prefix before dialing 911. This
bill would, again, allow the exact physical location information
to travel with the call and it would also require the phone
system to not have that prefix issue.
3:36:37 PM
He said some municipalities may not choose to adopt these
ordinances, but a provision requires any MLTS that does not have
the E911 capabilities to have signage near the phone indicating
the limitations of that phone system.
CHAIR BISHOP asked for a sectional analysis.
3:38:11 PM
MR. SHILLING explained that SB 215 has two sections:
Section 1, AS 29.35.134 Multi-line telephone systems
- Says a municipality may, by ordinance, require a
multi-line telephone system (MLTS) that is installed
or upgraded after January 1, 2019, to comply with the
requirements contained in section 2, and repeals
ineffective existing MLTS statutes.
Section 2, AS 29.35.134 Multi-line telephone systems
- Says an operator of an MLTS phone system that is
required by ordinance to comply with these sections
shall ensure that the system allows a caller to call
911 without dialing a prefix, and that the system
automatically provides the dispatching agency with the
exact physical location of the call. An MLTS operator
must comply with these requirements soon after an
installation or an upgrade.
An operator of an MLTS that is not required to comply
by ordinance and that does not allow for direct 911
dialing shall post signage notifying the public of the
limitations of their phone system.
Includes definitions for "multi-line telephone system"
and "multi-line telephone system operator".
3:39:18 PM
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked why a municipality would not want to opt
in. Is there a detrimental cost, perhaps? On the other hand, if
all municipalities opt in, why have the bill?
MR. SHILLING said he couldn't envision all the reasons why a
municipality may not want to opt in, but a cost is associated
with having the system that can range from zero dollars to much
higher and is reviewed in an accompanying document.
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked if it "shall" be required what the fiscal
note would be.
MR. SHILLING replied right now the bill has a zero fiscal note
even if a municipality chooses to adopt an MLTS requirement, so
he thought it would remain zero if the "may" was changed to
"shall". Ultimately, the cost is borne by the MLTS operator.
SENATOR HOFFMAN said this has been a nationwide issue and it
seems like they are leaving it up to all the municipalities to
do all the research and figure out what is best for them, and
they may not have that expertise.
3:42:54 PM
SENATOR GARDNER remarked that facilities with IT staff could
program existing phones to do what this bill allows
municipalities to require and may not have a cost, but some
places might have to hire somebody to come in. So, if the
municipality passes the ordinance, it is imposing a cost on
private companies and there might be some pushback. If the state
requires it, then it is an unfunded state mandate.
MR. SHILLING responded to the extent that there is a cost, she
was right; the cost is borne by the MLTS operator. But new MLTS
phones have this feature built in and native to the software.
The system that doesn't require a prefix before dialing 911
mirrors federal legislation and that President Trump just signed
a bill that requires any new MLTS phone manufacturer who sells
phones after the year 2020 not have that prefix problem.
SENATOR MACKINNON wondered at the status of state systems and
she agreed with Senator Hoffman that there is an opportunity to
consider using the system across the state of Alaska. But she
thought there would be a cost to small business as well as the
state.
3:45:41 PM
SENATOR GARDNER said she was assured today that the existing
system in this building could be compliant. It's just a matter
of plugging it in.
MR. SHILLING said he had tested the legislature's system to see
if it sends along the exact physical location and it does.
SENATOR GARDNER said the bill doesn't require anyone to upgrade
their system. It's just if they do upgrade the system, it has to
be compliant.
SENATOR MACKINNON said she had looked at the statute, and
because HB 215 would eliminate or reorganize quite a bit of
language, she wondered if Mr. Shilling could tell her the
specific differences in the compliance mechanism of this version
of SB 215 than in the last version.
MR. SHILLING said the reason the existing statute is ineffective
is because it leaves a lot of the specifics to the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska (RCA) to promulgate in regulation. It also
requires the RCA to become involved in some dispute resolution
with respect to the requirement that these phone systems comply
with "general accepted industry standards."
He explained that according to the Department of Law, because
the RCA didn't have the authority to promulgate those
regulations and to be involved in the dispute resolution
process, the bill's sponsors have tried to take what would
otherwise be accomplished in regulation and specify that in
statute, itself, and take RCA out of the equation, which has
been problematic and making these statutes ineffective for the
last 13 years.
3:48:38 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON said she was looking for the reference to the
RCA.
MR. SHILLING said it was on page 2, lines 3-5, of the bill.
DAVID GIBBS, Emergency Operations Director, Fairbanks North Star
Borough, supported SB 215. He said the borough Assembly has
identified requiring (enhanced) E911 information for multi-lined
telephones as one of their legislative priorities. He said staff
had prepared an excellent FAQ document, which is in the bill's
packet.
He said MLTS are used in large buildings, complexes, and
campuses which may have multiple facilities sharing a common
telephone switch. In his community, UAF hotels, both borough and
city governments, big box stores, and schools use MLTS.
MR. GIBBS explained the difference between wire line E911 and
MLTS 911. Currently local exchange carriers are required to
provide and maintain customer information, which includes a
telephone number and the address where the telephone is located.
They are required to provide that information to the 911
authority for the purposes of assisting in emergency responses.
The local exchange carriers process service orders are processed
daily, and the location information system is updated
automatically. Currently, MLTS operators have no requirement to
provide location information or even keep it current. So, what
this bill does is extend the E911 requirement to MLTS.
3:52:37 PM
MR. GIBBS explained that the problem with facilities using
multi-line telephone systems is that presently when a 911 call
is placed, the address that is presented to the 911
telecommunicator is the location of the MLTS switch and not
necessarily where the device from which the call was initiated
and located.
As an example, the UAF has hundreds of thousands of telephone
numbers and the associated addresses that resolve to the multi-
line switch location at 1054 University Avenue. Also, as a
matter of interest, telephones located at Poker Flats Rocket
Facility about 30 miles away have the same address. So, there is
a huge discrepancy in terms of the actual location of the
caller. He said there are multiple examples of emergency
responders being delayed because responders were either
dispatched to the wrong building or required to search a whole
floor or building complex in an attempt to locate a caller that
was requesting emergency services. Perhaps the customer of a
large business complex in a large is unable to speak or unable
to provide the telecommunicator with proper location
information, which can seriously delay emergency responders.
3:54:46 PM
MR. GIBBS also said the very simple reason that all
municipalities may not opt in to develop an ordinance to require
an MLTS 911 is that not all communities are currently providing
E911 service, so they may not have the facility to receive the
information that might be delivered.
SENATOR MACKINNON said that they have heard that one obstacle in
the way of implementing the MLTS is the notion that the RCA is
somehow a controlling entity and asked him to speak to that.
When she reads AS 29.35.134, it says, "An MLTS operator is to be
compliant with this section when using MLTS phone system with
E911 generally accepted industry standards as defined by the
RCA." It doesn't say they are monitoring it; it says whatever is
adopted just needs to comply. Have regulations been adopted that
make RCA in charge of this portion of Alaska state statute?
3:57:49 PM
JILL DOLAN, North Star Borough Attorney, Fairbanks North Star
Borough, explained in 2005, after the MLTS legislation was
enacted, the RCA opened a docket. The intention was for them to
adopt regulations in order to implement this section. Some time
after that, the Department of Law issued an opinion saying that
the RCA didn't have the authority to do that.
The problem is two-fold: one is that the E911 system is operated
in Alaska at the local level as a 911 service area, and the RCA
typically regulates service providers and standards for them and
has enforcement authority over them, as certificated entities.
She didn't have a copy of that opinion, but she suspected that
the reason was because the MLTS operator is not synonymous with
a service provider that the RCA would ordinarily regulate.
This legislation is drafted to help cure that problem by
proposing statutorily-driven standards, but a municipality must
opt in by adopting the ordinance in order to enact them. It
would be up to the municipality to enforce the standards, which
wouldn't be through the RCA. Either there would be some type of
requirement in code such as a citation or other type of minor
offense-type process or they could seek assistance from the
State Superior Court in getting some type of an injunction for
non-compliance.
SENATOR MACKINNON said the reason she is asking these questions
is because of the zero fiscal note, which the RCA didn't adopt
and because the Department of Law issued their opinion.
Currently in Alaska, local law and local regulations are
covering E911 services, except that now the state is being asked
to actually take local guidance on E911 or federal guidance,
place it into law, and then have no regulation. Was that
correct? So, each city that passes a law in support of E911 and
this compliance for MLTS may have inconsistent regulations
across jurisdictions.
MS. DOLAN responded that the intent is to have consistent
regulations throughout the state, which is why the standards are
statutorily driven. The flexibility is whether or not a
municipality participates in those standards. She clarified that
they only have the authority to do an E911 system at the local
level because that is the structure Alaska has set up. Local
governments, through Title 29, have the authority to create E911
service areas and to require service providers to comply with
their standards. Some states do it differently: for instance,
having state 911 systems. Alaska doesn't do that, but there
would be some level of consistency because the standards will be
in law. It has a zero fiscal impact to the state because it is
not charged with actually operating the E911 system or enforcing
the standards that will be adopted at the local level.
4:02:18 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON said she would leave it at that but stated
that local communities will adopt some kind of standards that
are inconsistent with each other and businesses may or may not
help in developing those regulations to comply with Alaska
statute.
4:03:03 PM
SENATOR BISHOP referenced page 4, line 4, subsection (d) of SB
215 and asked for an example of where that language would apply.
MR. SHILLING answered that subsection (d) requires that an
operator of an MLTS that is not required by ordinance to comply
with all these requirements shall, at a minimum, have some
signage indicating the limitations of the phone with respect to
dialing 911. The signage language in the bill is specific and is
an example of something that otherwise might be promulgated in
regulation. But the bill is trying to provide consistency
statewide. It says: "The notice shall state that 911 services
cannot be accessed by dialing 911 directly (prefix issue) and
indicate how a caller may access 911 services through the
telephone. The sign must be printed in contrasting colors and a
bold font not smaller than 16 points."
SENATOR BISHOP asked him to stop there, and asked Ms. Dolan if
this section is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant
and if the signage is required to be in Braille, as well.
MS. DOLAN replied that she hadn't looked at that issue. She
added that other jurisdictions had enacted similar legislation.
It is a good consideration to which she didn't know the answer.
MR. SHILLING said he would work with Ms. Dolan on language.
4:05:45 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON said she wondered about costs associated with
ADA compliance and asked what the size of the sign has to be and
commented that providing Braille would cost more.
MR. SHILLING responded that the size of the sign is left up to
the operator of the MLTS.
4:07:15 PM
KATHIE WASSERMAN, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League
(AML), Juneau, Alaska, supported SB 215. It is a good tool that
municipalities should be able to take advantage of if they have
the technology to do so.
MS. WASSERMAN said about half of Alaska municipalities don't
have regular 911 much less E911. Earlier, this bill was only an
opt out situation, and her take was why would Anaktuvuk Pass
have to go through all the trouble, money, time, and effort to
opt out of something that wasn't even available to them
technologically. Then it became an opt in, which seems a lot
smarter.
SENATOR BISHOP, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony on SB 215 and held the bill in committee.
4:09:41 PM
CHAIR BISHOP, finding no further business, adjourned the Senate
Community and Regional Affairs Committee meeting at 4:09 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 215 - Letter of Support - Alaska Fire Chiefs Association.pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |
| SB 215 - Letter of Support - Fairbanks North Star Borough.pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |
| SB 215 - Sectional Summary (ver. D).pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |
| SB 215 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |
| SB 215 - Supporting Document - FAQs.pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |
| SB 215 - Supporting Document - UAF Example.pdf |
SCRA 3/20/2018 3:30:00 PM |
SB 215 |