SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom) is calling for a state audit of California’s failed Next Generation 911 (NG911) project following the collapse of the long-promised upgrade to the state’s aging emergency communications system.

“Californians were promised an updated, reliable 911 system,” said Assemblyman Hoover. “Instead, they got delays, outages, and nearly half a billion dollars wasted. That is unacceptable and taxpayers deserve a full accounting of what went wrong.”

Portions of California’s 911 infrastructure are more than 50 years old, with stakeholders describing parts of the system as “literally falling apart.”

NG911 was intended to update California’s 911 infrastructure and enable real-time transmission of voice, text, photos, and video to emergency dispatchers. 

Instead, after years of delays and mounting costs, the project failed during its initial rollout, forcing the state to abandon it and start over after spending more than $450 million collected from customer phone bills.

“This is not just about wasted resources, it is also about public safety,” Hoover added. “When someone calls 911 they need a reliable system that can get them help as soon as possible. We need a full investigation to ensure a failure like this does not happen again.”

Hoover’s audit request calls on the State Auditor to examine a number of questions, including the following:

  • What went wrong in the project’s planning and implementation?
  • How much of the monthly 911 surcharge on phone bills was spent on the failed project?
  • Whether the surcharge will need to be increased to complete the new system?

The audit will move forward if it receives approval from the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

Josh Hoover is a member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and represents the 7th Assembly District in Sacramento County, which includes the cities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, and Rancho Cordova and the unincorporated communities of Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Foothill Farms, Gold River, Mather, McClellan Park, North Highlands, Orangevale, and Rosemont.

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