O'Rielly Tweets About RI Newspaper Urging End to 911 Fee Diversion
Rhode Island should stop diverting 911 fees for unrelated purposes, said a Providence Journal editorial Tuesday, to which FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly tweeted he "commend[s] your attention." Rhode Island is one of eight states that the FCC's last report on…
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state 911 fees identified for diverting revenue, and O’Rielly sought punishment for bad states (see 1703020060). “Rhode Island's elected officials should be more honest in budgeting and assigning fees,” the editorial said. “If the 911 money isn't needed for 911 services, it should be raised in another manner and identified as such in the state budget, in a way that reflects the actual use. It's too easy for state officials to tack on fees and surcharges, some of them supposedly temporary, and then continue them indefinitely and mislead people about where the money is going.” A bill (H-5075) before the legislature would repeal all state 911 surcharges levied on wireless telecom services and residential and business phone lines (see 1701170051). It hasn’t advanced since its Jan. 11 introduction.