When government budgets tighten, budget-writers are sometimes tempted to raid stable sources of funding to cover other expenses.
That’s what Gov. Ted Kulongoski stands accused by 9-1-1 providers of doing with the state’s 9-1-1 funds.
First a little background on how we pay for 9-1-1: every landline, portable phone and voice-over-Internet line pays 75 cents per month to cover the cost of services.
That monthly charge is expected to produce about $80 million for Oregon over the 2009-2011 budget cycle. But as has been widely reported, the state’s economic woes are projected to mean about $1 billion less for the Legislature to spend than was originally forecast.
But the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials & National Emergency Number Association objected to Kulongoski’s suggestion in his budget that part of the 9-1-1 funds be diverted to the general fund. The association cited his previous veto of a similar legislative attempt in 2007, when the governor wrote in his veto message,
“I have vetoed the transfer of $9 million because it is important that funds collected from telecommunications customers for enhancements to the 9-1-1 emergency response system to be used for the purposes allowed in the applicable statutes.”
In a Dec. 18 letter to the governor, Hasina Squires, a lobbyist for 911 providers cites 2008 federal legislation that forbids diverting 9-1-1 fees for other purposes. The penalty? The loss of the ability to tax mobile and Internet phone lines, which Squires says would cost the state about half of the $80 million it expects to receive.
“We believe that diverting 9-1-1 funds is a short-term accounting maneuver that will put our citizens’ safety and well-being at risk,” Squires wrote.
In a Dec. 18 email response to Squires, Joe O’Leary, a Kulongoski aide, said state lawyers would evaluate the legality of the proposed diversion. He offered this explanation for why the governor is now proposing something he vetoed only last year:
“We cannot ignore the fact that we are in a different economic reality than we were in 2007. The purpose of the [governor] proposing the redirection of $8.1 [million], approximately 10%, of the 911 tax revenue is to call the question of how Oregon can provide 911 services more efficiently.”
(Photo of Gov. Kulongoski courtesy of the Associated Press.)
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Tags: 9-1-1, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Hasina Squires
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Our illustrius governor should use his head for something besides keeping is ears apart.
His suggestion is the most stupid I have ever heard.
Does he think he’s better than the rest of us and he, the state, shouldn’t have to live within their means.
I’m disgusted with almost everything that goes on in his office. He should resign before somebody decides to impeach him.