Tracfone Wireless, Inc. and Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. v. Commission on State Emergency Communications

Texas, cellphone users help fund the State’s 911 emergency networks via two distinct “e911 fee” statutes. The first, enacted in 1997, imposes on wireless subscribers a $0.50/month “emergency service fee” 1 collected on the customer’s bill. The second, effective June 1, 2010, imposes on prepaid wireless subscribers a flat 2% fee, 2 collected by the retail seller when a consumer buys prepaid service. The 2010 law assesses the e911 fee on prepaid wireless customers; the question here is whether the pre-2010 law did so. We answer no.

In this case, the government seeks not judicial construction of…