State audit, more oversight likely coming for Cal OES’ Next Generation 911 project
California lawmakers’ desire for more oversight of the state’s overdue and over-budget Next Generation 911 project appear likely to go into effect after requirements proposed earlier this session were included in recent budget and trailer bills.
The recent additions call for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to deliver quarterly reports to the Legislature, tasks the California State Auditor with auditing the project and prevent the administration from entering a long-term contract with a vendor until an independent technical evaluation is complete.
“This budget language marks a turning point for the Next Gen 911 project, and shows Californians that the Legislators they elected are translating talk into action,” Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, D-Tracy, said in a recent statement.
Earlier this year, Ransom proposed a bill that would have required similar oversight measures to the ones recently added to budget and trailer bills. The budget and trailer bills that include the oversight provisions still require final approval from the governor, but Ransom was confident that these provisions could go into effect as early as this month.
Ransom and other lawmakers have been calling for more oversight over California’s Next Generation 911 project after state officials discovered that the modernized emergency call system, which cost $450 million and was built out between 2019 and 2025, wasn’t going to work the way they wanted. Cal OES leaders decided to scrap the regional design that was initially proposed, and the agency made plans to instead construct a statewide 911 system.
Calls for more oversight of the project have also come from the federal level, with the Federal Communications Commission requesting spending information about the project.
In April, Cal OES signed a 30-month, $194 million contract with Atos Public Safety, one of the vendors that served as the statewide backup provider for the now-scrapped regional 911 design, to keep providing services to emergency dispatchers that have already transitioned to the new system and to deploy the technology in more areas of the state.
Cal OES has maintained that this contract is necessary to prepare California’s emergency communication systems for the influx of visitors expected for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics. The bridge contract will remain in effect, despite the changes to the budget bill.
Asked about the oversight measure in the budget bills, Cal OES spokesperson Anita Gore said in a statement that the agency was pleased to work with the Legislature to deliver a modern, safe, and reliable Next Generation 911 system.
“The budget agreement moves the project forward while enacting common sense actions to ensure ratepayer funds continue to be expended wisely and effectively,” Gore said.
What’s included in the budget language?
The calls for more oversight were bipartisan. Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, also presented a bill this session that called for more legislative oversight over the 911 project. Strickland applauded the inclusion of elements of his legislation, which called for regular reports from Cal OES to the Legislature about the project, into the budget bill.
“We can’t make the same mistake that we made in the past,” Strickland said in an interview. “And we, as the Legislature, are an equal branch in government, so, I think it’s very important for both accountability and transparency that we get this bill done.”
The new requirements added to the budget include:
- Cal OES will contract with the research organization RAND Corporation to conduct an independent technical evaluation of and recommendations for the Next Generation 911 project. The budget allocates $2 million for this effort.
- The budget includes $1 million for the California State Auditor to conduct an audit of the project.
- Starting October 2026, Cal OES is required to make quarterly reports to the chairs of the budget and emergency management committees.
- Cal OES’ 911 Advisory Board members will elect a board chair during the first meeting of the calendar year.
Is regional design still on the table?
Some of the vendors that built the regional design, which Cal OES has moved away from, were happy to see language in the budget bill that did not prevent the state from returning to its original plan for the 911 system.
“The Office of Emergency Services shall not take actions that would prevent the state from transitioning to a regional network in the future,” the budget bill’s latest iteration reads.
Don Ferguson, the president of NGA, one of the vendors that built the regional design, said in a statement that his company welcomes the Legislature’s decision to require an independent, technical evaluation and audit before spending more of taxpayers’ money to rebuild the Next Generation 911 system.
Ferguson said that the regional systems the NGA built have continued to work effectively since 2024, despite Cal OES pausing implementation in favor of the statewide approach.
“We’re confident in the technology and infrastructure we’ve built for California, and equally confident that a rigorous, independent review of the performance data and completed work will support the regional system as a viable, and in key respects preferable, path forward,” Ferguson said.
Another regional vendor, Synergem Technologies, Inc., echoed the need for an independent review of the Next Generation 911 system. Jeff Schlueter, Synergem’s chief operating officer, said it was important for the state to conduct a technical analysis of the project before changing the direction of the system.
“An independent review gives everyone — state leadership, public safety agencies, and taxpayers — the opportunity to evaluate the facts before making a decision that will shape California’s emergency communications system for years to come,” Schlueter said in a statement.
Both Schlueter and Ferguson said their companies will fully support the technical analysis being conducted by RAND by offering investigators access to data, data, personnel and infrastructure for their assessment.
