California governor Jerry Brown is leading the effort to push for a new 911 surcharge fee to maintain and improve emergency services.
Currently, Californians are charged less than 1% of the cost of in-state phone calls to fund the 911 system. However, with more people using texting instead of calling, the number of phone calls is declining at an average rate of 6%, reported the Sacramento Bee. As a result, more funding needs to be raised to support the 911 system.
However, opponents argued that the new tax is unnecessary.
“911 services are in jeopardy because their funding hasn’t been made a priority in the budget,” said State Senator Joel Anderson in a statement. “With a $9 billion surplus, I believe the state has plenty of money to fund these important services. The Legislature doesn’t need to take even more money out of our pockets.”
On the other hand, supporters said that the new fee would be a more reliable way to fund 911 services compared to using the budget, which is subject to economic factors.