Colorado bill to restore prepaid-phone 9-1-1, 9-8-8 surcharges advances from committee

Representative Rebecca Stewart and Speaker Pro Tem Baystacker told the House Finance Committee on Feb. 19 that House Bill 11-15 is a technical fix needed to restore funding for Colorado’s 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system and the 9-8-8 behavioral-health crisis line.

The bill would revise the statutory definition of “prepaid wireless telecommunication service” so plans sold for a fixed period — including modern unlimited prepaid plans — are subject to the existing 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 surcharges that are collected at point of purchase. Sponsors said a Department of Revenue private letter ruling in mid-2025 effectively exempted some unlimited prepaid plans, producing an estimated $17 million annual shortfall for 9-1-1 services and $4 million for 9-8-8.

"Sixty-two out of 64 counties in Colorado are mental-health deserts," Representative Stewart said, arguing that the 9-8-8 funding shortfall threatens crisis-line staffing and follow-up intervention. Speaker Pro Tem Baystacker told members that the loss of surcharge revenue places local dispatch staffing, replacement technology and location services at risk, and that "this is not a service you want cut when time is of the essence." (Both quotations are from sponsors' remarks during committee.)

County and state public-safety witnesses backed the measure. Michael Berry, representing Summit County and the Colorado Council of Authorities, told the committee that mountain and tourism communities rely heavily on prepaid devices and that infrastructure and staffing costs are unchanged regardless of how plans are sold. Kimberly Culp of the Colorado Council of 9-1-1 Authorities said the legislative change modernizes a 2010 statutory definition that referenced prepaid minutes sold in units and did not anticipate unlimited monthly plans. Gordon Coombs, director of Colorado’s 9-8-8 mental health line, described how surcharge revenue supports staffing, technology and mobile-crisis coordination and said losing $4 million annually would reduce answered calls and response capacity.

Daryl Branson of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission described the PUC’s role in setting the 9-1-1 prepaid-charge mechanism and said the PUC had helped draft bill language to address the statutory gap identified by DOR.

During amendment review, the committee adopted an amendment exempting federal Lifeline plans for income-qualified households. Representative Brooks cast the lone no vote in part because she wanted the committee to consider alternatives to the fee structure and to protect small businesses.

A motion to send HB 11-15 as amended to the Committee of the Whole carried on a roll call vote of 10–1. The Committee of the Whole will consider the bill next; no final floor action has occurred yet.