Committee advances 9‑1‑1 modernization bill, removes surcharge and adds records protections

The Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committee advanced House Bill 1854, a package of updates to Pennsylvania’s 9‑1‑1 law, adopting two amendments and forwarding the bill to the House floor.

Chairman Jared Solomon introduced the bill and staff explained background: the 9‑1‑1 provisions in Title 35 were set to expire and required modernization. Amendment A03500 removed language relating to the 9‑1‑1 surcharge so that surcharge policy could be handled separately; Chairman Solomon described shelving the surcharge issue to focus on substantive operational updates.

Staff described Amendment A03521 as making additional changes to 9‑1‑1 law — adding protections for call‑processing records, enhancing information sharing among agencies and service providers, and updating definitions to align with modern 9‑1‑1 service delivery in 2024. Staff said communication service providers and stakeholders were either supportive or neutral. Committee members voiced approval of the collaborative process. Both amendments carried unanimously, and the underlying bill will move to the House floor for further consideration.

Mike, the committee staffer, summarized the process and stakeholder engagement that led to the current text and said the committee incorporated several recent stakeholder suggestions into the adopted amendments.