County leaders’ calls for more transparency in state emergency communications spending have so far gone unheeded by the Mississippi Legislature.
Bills that would have brought more oversight to the state CMRS board died in House and Senate committees.
The CMRS board is the Commercial Mobile Radio Services Emergency Telephone Services board.
All cell phone customers pay a one dollar 911 assessment on their monthly bills, a portion of which is set aside to reimburse cell phone providers for keeping their networks in compliance with federal 911 mandates.
Those funds are governed by the CMRS panel, an eight-member body with members appointed by the governor.
The measures would have mandated that the CMRS board make its reports available for inspection by the Mississippi state auditor and local communications districts.
The bills were introduced at the behest of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, which has decried the agency’s secrecy for years.
“We were interested in knowing how much surcharge revenue (was) being collected from the prepaid cell phones, post-paid cell phone plans and VOIP,” said Steve Gray, director of governmental affairs with the supervisors’ association. VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol, which allows for individuals to communicate via the Internet rather than traditional phone lines.
“It would have been good to inspect those reports for various trends that may provide some type of insights.”
Hinds County District One Supervisor Robert Graham, who also criticized the board’s secrecy, wasn’t surprised that it failed. He told the Sun previously that past efforts to bring oversight to the board also were unsuccessful.
At the heart of the matter is the CMRS wireless account. The account is used to reimburse wireless providers for making equipment upgrades.
Since 2002, the account has grown from $9.8 million to more than $44 million, a sign that wireless providers no longer need the funds.
County leaders would like to see at least a portion of those dollars be redistributed to help counties better maintain their 911 systems.
The association, as well as local supervisors, have asked the board about the account, but the board has been uncooperative.
Bills were authored by Rep. Larry Byrd and Sen. Chuck Younger respectively. HB 1190 died in the House Public Utilities Committee. SB 2310 died in the Senate Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee, and Energy Committee.
Deadline to pass measures out of committee was last week.
District 29 Sen. David Blount, who serves on Accountability, said the measure was never brought up for a vote. He wouldn’t say whether he would have supported the measure.
District 70 Rep. Kathy Sykes, a member of Public Utilities, said she would have supported the measure, but it also was never brought up for a vote.
