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State and local entities that use revenues from 911 fees for purposes that do not directly support 911 will be identified and risk losing access to federal 911 funding, according to the FCC’s report and order addressing the issue of 911 fee diversion that was required by Congress.
Released yesterday, the order fulfills an FCC obligation to establish rules that are designed to discourage a longtime issue within some states of assessing and collecting 911 fees from subscribers’ phone bills and then not using the money for 911—a practice known as fee diversion, or “raiding,” within the public-safety community. Congress mandated that the FCC approve the rules and create a new 911 Strike Force within six months of the passage of the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act in appropriations legislation that was signed into law in late December 2020…