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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Ransom

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Jeff Gonzalez and Wallis)

February 11, 2026

An act to add Section 8588.4 to the Government Code, relating to communications.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, creates, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services. Under existing law, Cal OES is responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property, as provided.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires local public agencies to establish a “9-1-1” emergency telephone number, as specified. Existing law also authorizes a local public agency to establish a nonemergency “3-1-1” telephone system. Under existing federal law, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has designated “2-1-1” to be the national abbreviated dialing code to provide access to nonemergency community information and referral services. Pursuant to authority delegated by the FCC to state regulatory bodies and its existing statutory authority, the PUC has established procedures for implementing 2-1-1 dialing in California.

This bill would create in the State Treasury the 2-1-1 Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require Cal OES to allocate moneys appropriated from the fund to the California 211 Providers Network to be used for, among other things, enhancing critical 2-1-1 system capacity and service quality through core operating support, providing equitable access to 2-1-1 dialing and services, publishing a statewide 2-1-1 community needs data dashboard for use by state agencies, developing aligned systems and protocols with 9-1-1 and 9-8-8, and providing annual reports to Cal OES, as specified. The bill would authorize Cal OES, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to recover its reasonable administrative costs to administer the 2-1-1 Fund, as specified.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the 2-1-1 Infrastructure and Emergency Response Act.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(a) Californians must be able to access 2-1-1 essential community services and critical communications infrastructure year-round and during disasters.

(b) Because the 2-1-1 system serves such a wide range of populations and service categories and has no dedicated funding source, unlike 9-1-1 and 9-8-8, it would benefit the public to create a fund to pool funding from different sources unless or until a dedicated funding source for the 2-1-1 system is identified.

SEC. 3.

Section 8588.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:

8588.4.

(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury the 2-1-1 Fund, the moneys in which shall be used for purposes of subdivisions (c) and (d), (c), (d), and (e), upon appropriation by the Legislature.

(b) The office shall allocate moneys appropriated from the 2-1-1 Fund to the California 211 Providers Network, also known as 211 California, to carry out the actions pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d).

(c) The moneys in the fund shall be used for all of the following purposes:

(1) Enhancing critical 2-1-1 system capacity and service quality through core operating support, including all of the following:

(A) Staffing to handle 2-1-1 contacts.

(B) Training, supervision, and quality assurance.

(C) Consistent data collection and reporting.

(D) Multilingual and multichannel access through modern technology and infrastructure.

(2) Providing equitable access to 2-1-1 dialing and services by closing 2-1-1 coverage gaps and ensuring basic 2-1-1 service access statewide.

(3) Publishing a statewide 2-1-1 community needs data dashboard for use by state agencies in monitoring and identifying community and disaster needs and resource gaps, and to inform efficient and responsive resource allocation.

(4) Strengthening 2-1-1 community resource databases and enable resource data sharing and delivery to state agencies, health systems, and other key partners, and reduce redundancies in resource directory building and updating.

(5) Promoting 2-1-1 awareness through public education and outreach opportunities.

(6) Improving 2-1-1 system readiness, infrastructure, and capacity to respond to disasters and all hazard events, including by doing all of the following:

(A) Completing local and statewide 2-1-1 emergency operations plans.

(B) Securing needed infrastructure updates, tools, protocols, and training for both local disaster response and statewide mutual aid and network response.

(C) Engaging with local counties, cities, community-based organizations, and voluntary organizations active in disaster response planning, regarding the role of the 2-1-1 system and communication protocols.

(D) Providing emergency funding for 2-1-1 disaster activation when local or philanthropic funding is not available or not sufficient to match 2-1-1 disaster contact volume.

(d) The California 211 Providers Network shall annually provide a report to the office on the 2-1-1 system status, use of any funds, and future 2-1-1 system funding needs.