The House Interim Committee on 911 Access has met for the first time. The body will look for ways to make the service statewide in funding and in coverage.

Chairman Chuck Gatschenberger of Lake St. Louis says the first meeting brough together a lot of people who want to see 911 expanded in different ways. Discussion topics included expanding cell phone service to “phase 2,” which is able to narrow down to a given area where a cell phone call to 911 is coming from.

Some lawmakers who attempted to address 911 funding in past sessions found little traction for the issue and eventually scrapped it. Gatchenberger says it’s not unusual for a law to fall short of passage the first time it is brought up, and he thinks this issue is important enough to keep trying.

He notes Missouri is alone in the Union in not having a statewide 911 funding mechanism, adding that 16 counties in the state lack service.