(a) The Permanent Oversight Commission on 911 is established. The commission shall do the following:

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 11-98-13.1

  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • month: means a calendar month. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Study the operational and financial condition of the current 911 systems within the State of Alabama and publish a report detailing the same.
(2) Study the rate charged for 911 services and make recommendations to the board regarding adjustments to the rate.
(3) Develop recommendations for the most efficient and effective delivery of 911 services in Alabama over both the long- and short-term.
(4) Study the charges levied by each telecommunications provider to each communications district for both data base and network charges.
(5) Develop legislation necessary to implement its long-term 911 plan.
(6) Report its findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation to the Legislature prior to the last day of the 2014 Regular Session.
(b) The commission shall remain in place until the later of the end of the 2014 Regular Session or the time necessary to complete any pending review of a proposed adjustment to the statewide 911 charge adjustment under Section 11-98-5 after which the duties, responsibilities, and powers of the Permanent Oversight Committee under this chapter shall be assumed by the Joint Committee on Administrative Regulation Review. Any action under this chapter requiring an affirmative vote of six of the members of the Permanent Oversight Committee, following its termination, may be taken by a vote of a majority of the members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Regulation Review, and any requirement for prior submission of a proposed rule to the Permanent Oversight Committee under Section 11-98-4.1(e)(8), shall be replaced in its entirety by the normal procedure for adoption and legislative review of an agency rule under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act.
(c) The commission shall be comprised of the following members:

(1) Three members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) Three members of the Senate, to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3) Three members to be appointed by the Governor, who shall include a representative of the districts and the State 911 Coordinator.
(d) The membership of the commission shall be inclusive and reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state.
(e) The chair and vice chair of the commission shall be elected at the first meeting by the members of the commission.
(f) Upon request of the chair, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall provide necessary clerical assistance for the work of the commission.
(g) Each legislative member of the commission shall be entitled to his or her regular legislative compensation, his or her per diem, and travel expenses for each day he or she attends a meeting of the commission. Upon requisitions signed by the chair of the commission, these payments shall be paid out of any funds appropriated to the use of the Legislature by means of warrants drawn by the Comptroller on the State Treasury. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no member shall receive additional legislative compensation or per diem when the Legislature is in session or if a member is being paid any other payments on the same dates for attendance on other state business.
(h) The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall gather and report to the Permanent Oversight Commission the information necessary to evaluate 911 emergency communications funding across the State of Alabama. Each communications district established pursuant to Section 11-98-2 and the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board and the statewide 911 Board, unless exempted by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts for good cause, shall provide at least the information specified following to the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts no later than 180 days after May 8, 2012.

(1) For wireline 911 and for fiscal years ending 2009, 2010, and 2011, the information provided by communications districts shall include:

a. 911 rates in effect for residence telephone service and for business telephone service in the communications district for each fiscal year.
b. 911 revenues collected by the communications district by month for each fiscal year.
c. The amount of any funding provided to the communications district by a county or municipality in which the communications district resides by month for each fiscal year.
d. The amount of revenues received by the communications district from the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board by month for each fiscal year.
e. The amount of any direct grants from federal or state government and any state matches for federal, state, local, or private grants for each fiscal year.
f. Gifts or other amounts not otherwise reported in this section.
g. Amounts held in any savings or investment accounts or reserve or escrow accounts by fiscal year.
h. Identification and specification in detail how the 911 funds were spent in each fiscal year. The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall identify any areas of noncompliance with this chapter.
i. Monthly charges paid to each telecommunications service provider for both data base and network charges.
(2) Each communications district that fails to provide the information required by this section to the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts by the deadline specified in this subsection, unless exempted by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts for good cause, shall not be eligible to receive distributions from the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board after the deadline.
(3) For wireless 911 and for fiscal years ending 2009, 2010, and 2011, the information provided by the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board shall include:

a. 911 revenues received by month for each fiscal year segregated between postpaid wireless service and prepaid wireless service.
b. 911 revenues disbursed to each communications district by month by fiscal year.
c. Amounts of any direct grants from federal or state government and any state matches for federal, state, local, or private grants for each fiscal year.
d. Gifts or other amounts not otherwise reported in this section.
e. Amounts held in any savings or investment accounts or reserve or escrow accounts by fiscal year.
f. The amount of funds retained by the board for operation of the board and identify how the funds retained were spent in each fiscal year.
g. The amount of funds that were escrowed for the purpose of reimbursing wireless carriers for cost recovery or implementation for Phase I and Phase II 911 implementation costs and the amounts paid to the wireless carriers for cost recovery in each fiscal year segregated by Phase I and Phase II.
(i) The Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board and the statewide 911 Board shall track monthly wireless 911 prepaid revenue following implementation of the prepaid 911 point-of-sale mechanism specified in Section 11-98-5.3 and shall file a monthly report with the Permanent Oversight Commission detailing and comparing prepaid 911 revenues received in the 2012 fiscal year to the prepaid revenues received in the 2011 fiscal year. The first monthly report shall be filed with the commission no later than 60 days following implementation of the point-of-sale system and on a monthly basis thereafter.
(j) The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall promulgate rules and a common financial reporting format to establish annual reporting requirements applicable to all communications districts and the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board or statewide 911 Board that the committee shall need to monitor 911 surcharge rates, 911 revenues, and the use of 911 funds on an ongoing annual basis. The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall gather and report to the commission the information necessary to evaluate 911 emergency communications funding across the State of Alabama on an ongoing basis.
(k) The annual reports of the communications districts and the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board and any reports developed by the commission shall be posted no later than 60 days following the end of the fiscal year on a website to be determined by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
(l) To assist in the development of the long-term plan for 911 in the state, the statewide 911 Board and Permanent Oversight Commission may solicit input from members of the 911 districts in the state, from members of the communications industry operating in the state, and, if deemed necessary, from 911 experts outside the state.
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