The Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications will meet Wednesday to set annual 9-1-1 service fees, consider a new five-year statewide strategic plan for emergency communications and potentially select the agency’s next executive director.
The commission will meet at 10 a.m. CT on July 29 in Board Room 4.300 of the George H.W. Bush State Office Building in Austin. The agenda includes updates on the state’s 9-1-1 and poison control programs, agency finances, federal grants and the executive director search.
One of the commission’s annual responsibilities is setting the rates for the regional planning commission 9-1-1 emergency service fee on landline and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service, along with the statewide equalization surcharge. Those fees help fund 9-1-1 call centers throughout most of Texas outside the state’s independent emergency communication districts.
Commissioners are also scheduled to adopt the agency’s Strategic Plan for Statewide 9-1-1 Service for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The five-year plan outlines the state’s continued transition to Next Generation 9-1-1, an internet protocol-based emergency communications system designed to support text messages, video, improved location data and other digital communications in addition to traditional voice calls.
The commission will also receive an update on the federally funded Next Generation 9-1-1 Service Fund program and review Texas’ annual filing with the Federal Communications Commission covering calendar year 2025. The report details the amount of 9-1-1 fee revenue collected statewide and whether any funds were diverted to non-9-1-1 purposes.
Under the agency’s 9-1-1 service program, commissioners will consider strategic plan amendments from the Ark-Tex, Deep East Texas, East Texas and West Central Texas regional planning commissions. The amendments involve federal funding associated with Senate Bill 8 and the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund.
The commission will also review the statewide poison control program, which it administers through six regional poison centers. Agenda items include a Texas Poison Control Network update, a funding-related strategic plan amendment for the North Texas Poison Center and a presentation from the Poison Control Coordinating Committee.
The meeting could also produce action on the agency’s executive director position. Commissioners will receive an update from the Executive Director Search Working Group before interviewing a candidate in executive session. Any decision to appoint a new executive director would be announced after the commission returns to open session.
Additional agenda items include third-quarter fiscal year 2026 performance measures, an appropriation year 2026 financial update and the agency’s Legislative Appropriations Request for the 2028-29 biennium.
Commissioners are also expected to discuss future meeting dates, including Sept. 30 and a November meeting that has not yet been scheduled.
The Commission on State Emergency Communications oversees statewide 9-1-1 services in areas not served by independent emergency communication districts and administers Texas’ statewide poison control network. The agency is scheduled for review under the Texas Sunset Act in 2029.