Strickland during his presentation of SB 985 today. Click HERE to watch his presentation.
Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) is pleased to announce that Senate Bill 985, the Fix 911 Act, has passed out of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee with strong bipartisan support. SB 985 would require Newsom’s California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to provide regular, quarterly reports on the progress of the NextGen 911 project until it’s complete. Since 2019, Newsom’s Cal OES, which is responsible for the NextGen 911 project, has wasted nearly $500 million with little to show for it.
“The Fix 911 Act provides much-needed transparency, accountability, and legislative oversight of the 911 system upgrade project,” said Senator Strickland. “Over the last decade, OES has missed critical deadlines and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure and technology contracts. Incredibly, when the system was rolled out, it failed catastrophically.”
The requirements that are outlined in SB 985 are in line with recommendations from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
“Failure is not an option for the 911 system as seconds matter and lives are at stake when someone calls for help,” said Senator Strickland.
Senator Strickland introduced the Fix 911 Act following a series of reports by NBC Bay Area investigative reporter Candice Nguyen since November 2024 and Sacramento Bee’s William Melhado. Reports from both media outlets exposed the problematic and significant challenges of the NextGen 911 project.
“I commend both media outlets, especially NBC Bay Area’s relentless coverage detailing the NextGen system failures and whistleblower concerns. Those reports finally forced Newsom’s Cal OES to publish details of numerous challenges that riddled this project before it even began. I believe we are only scratching the surface of the problem,” Senator Strickland concluded.
The bill was amended in the Senate Energy Committee to remove placeholder language regarding the surcharge and now heads to the Senate Emergency Management Committee for its next hearing.