California Gov. Brown Plans to Add New Phone Tax for 911 Service Upgrade

California Gov. Brown Plans to Add New Phone Tax for 911 Service Upgrade
A man shows a photo of his burned Jeep on his cell phone in Santa Rosa, California on October 20, 2017. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images
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California governor Jerry Brown is leading the effort to push for a new 911 surcharge fee to maintain and improve emergency services.

Senate Bill 870 and Assembly Bill 1836 outline the new policy, which would require replacing an existing tax on in-state phone calls with a surcharge amount between $0.20 and $0.80 per month, starting Jan 1, 2019.