OKLAHOMA, USA — The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed HB 1590 on Monday, March 20, which would update the state's 911 computer system.
Rep. Jim Grego of District 17, Latimer County and a portion of Pittsburg County, said he'd received many phone calls about their current 911 system.
"This just allows the 911 dispatch to move into the next generation to be more accurate and hopefully save more lives," Grego addressed to members on Monday.
The bill was requested by the state's 911 committee and authored by Rep. Grego. He explained that many of his rural constituents have called 911 in the past and have been bounced around from dispatch to dispatch.
In 2021, the representative held an interim study on the issue. According to a press release, the study contained "testimony from several constituents whose children faced life-threatening situations." The release stated that the 911 calls were rerouted and outdated maps hindered ambulance drivers from accessing the homes of those constituents.
"He's standing on his front porch watching an ambulance drive back up and down the highway. They can't find him because he's in Latimer County, but they dispatch him out of Pittsburgh county while his son's bleeding," Grego said of one of his constituents.
Representatives were concerned about the fee increase the bill would introduce. As of Monday, wireless phones are charged 75 cents for 911 services while landlines are charged anywhere from $3-$5. This bill would set the fee at $1.25 for all services. Rep. Grego explained it would be necessary to get the new system up and running to replace the 1975 system currently in use.
"It will take about $8 million a year to run it and with this fee increase, it'll give them up to close to $10 million a year," Grego tells 5NEWS.
Part of the bill would also return some of the fees to the counties.
"We're going to start giving $3,000 a month back to these dispatch centers. We're also going to use an equation that considers landmass. You're going to start getting more money back if you're in a sparsely populated county. It's like my friends in the panhandle - they're gonna get some help because now some of their counties don't even have EMS or 911," Grego said while on the House floor.
"Each county will now get $3,000 a month to help pay for their cost because some of our sparsely counties struggle to keep somebody in the office. $3,000 a month really doesn't even cover the cost of a dispatcher," he explained.
The representative acknowledged that it might not be the same issue for some of Oklahoma's metropolitan areas.
"I think they'll get some benefit from this, but they may not benefit as much as people in my district would," Grego told 5NEWS.
The title is stricken meaning they'll continue to work on the bill. It passed 68-22 in the House and is now headed to the Senate. Grego explained it would return to the House for final passage.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.