Hunterdon County's Freeholder Board has endorsed Congressman Leonard Lance's federal legislation,
H.R. 6424, aimed at stopping the diversion of 9-1-1 fees for other uses by New
Jersey and other states.
Freeholder John E. Lanza, the Board's liaison for Public Safety, stated, “Right now phone users pay 90
cents per month that goes into a fund to support 9-1-1 costs at the local level. In New Jersey that is $130 million per year, yet Hunterdon County has not seen one dime of that funding in the past 12 years.”
Congressman Lance is working with several other members of Congress, from both parties, on H.R. 6424 which is designed to give the Federal Communication Commission the authority to stop
the diversion of telephone taxes from the 9-1-1 costs that they were intended to fund.
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“The whole matter is outrageous and must be corrected. I applaud Congressman Lance
and his House colleagues for pushing forward on this legislation in a bi-partisan fashion,” Lanza said.
Recently Congressman Lance was joined by FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, a supporter of the legislation,
and Freeholder Lanza, on a tour of Hunterdon County's 9-1-1 Communications Center to highlight the effectiveness of the County's emergency dispatch operations, despite the County receiving no funding from the 9-1-1 fee from the state.
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The legislation is currently under consideration in the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. A copy of the Freeholders' resolution is being sent to the Committee Chairman, Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon.
Lanza added, “I think it is important for Congressman Lance’s home county, which had the first county wide
9-1-1 center in the state, to go on record in support of the bill.” The Resolution was approved unanimously at the September 4, 2018 Freeholder meeting.
Copy and paste the web address into your browser to view the Resolution: http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/frholder/2018/2018docs/911DiversionCostsResolutionSept04.pdf.
Copy and paste the web address into your browser to view the County’s previous Press Release: http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/pdf/press/2018/August29-Diversion911Fees.pdf.
