DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Legislature passed a bill overnight before the close of the legislative session that 911 emergency dispatchers are calling on the governor to veto.

Specifically, emergency dispatchers are concerned about Division XII, Section 42 of the standings appropriations bill, which grants the Iowa 911 Program the authority to charge local 911 service boards for undefined “reasonable costs” associated with delivering 911 traffic to Public Safety
Answering Points.

Todd Malone, the president of Iowa Chapter of Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, said that the bill could have dire consequences on dispatch centers.

“It’s not clearly defined and there was a mention of a 30-day deadline that it would have to be paid. Some centers won’t be able to budget readily for that. It could cause problems with their staffing. Some centers, you know, they could close down and move phone calls to reroute it to a different location,” Malone said.

The governor has 30 days to either sign the bill or veto it.

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