Coalition asks Senate leaders for $15 billion, borrowing authority for NG911

A coalition of public-safety associations yesterday asked Senate leadership that legislation for next-generation 911 (NG911) be altered to call for “at least $15 billion” in federal funding nationwide and borrowing authority to ensure that deployments can begin as soon as possible.

NG911 funding language was passed in the House last month as part of the Spectrum Innovation Act (H.R. 7624), which includes language that calls for $10 billion to fund the transition of 911 from legacy technology to IP-based NG911 platforms that are designed to handle text, data, photos and video, as well as traditional voice communications.

This bill now is under consideration by the Senate, which is scheduled to reconvene on Sept. 6. With this in mind, the Public Safety Next Generation 911 Coalition sent a letter to key senators that asks that NG911 legislation provide more funding than the $10 billion included in the House bill. In addition, the letter asks that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) be allowed to borrow money to begin its grant program quickly, instead of potentially waiting years for proceeds from an FCC auction to be available.

“We ask you to ensure that NG911 is fully funded with at least $15 billion and that the agency tasked with administering the grant, NTIA, is provided with borrowing authority to begin the program as soon as possible,” the coalition letter states. “This could be achieved through a minor, bipartisan amendment of H.R. 7624, which caps funding at $10 billion and lacks borrowing authority, but we would support the passage of the NG911 provisions through any legislative vehicle.”

Currently, that legislative vehicle is the Spectrum Innovation Act, which would extend the FCC’s auction authority by 18 months and allow spectrum-auction proceeds to be used to fund NG911 and a “rip-and-replace” program to rid U.S. communications networks of equipment from China-based vendors.

However, language in the bill would only make the NG911 funding available after a proposed 3.1-3.45 GHz auction is conducted, meaning the proceeds may not be available for several years to fund NG911—if enough money is available at all. This uncertainty potentially could have several detrimental impacts on 911, including local entities stopping 911 technological improvements while waiting for promised federal dollars.

Given this situation, many public-safety representatives have suggested that the legislation be changed to allow NTIA to initiate the NG911 grant program in the short term with funding borrowed from the U.S. Treasury, and that money would be repaid after the FCC auction—an approach used to fund the FirstNet Authority in its early years. While this notion has been discussed within the 911 sector, it was put in writing by the Public Safety Next Generation 911 Coalition.

“Borrowing authority is critical to success, particularly if funding comes from spectrum auctions and revenue would otherwise not be available for several years,” the coalition letter states.

As for the increased funding level sought, the coalition letter notes that the $10 billion in the House bill is an estimate based on a study that was published four years ago—based on data gathered at least a year before that—and does not account for economic changes since then. In addition, the cost study was designed to address only infrastructure costs, not the cybersecurity and training costs contemplated today.

“Our conclusion that at least $15 billion is needed to fully fund NG911 is based on a prior congressionally mandated study that was published in 2018,” the coalition letter states. “Using cost data dating back to prior years and a narrower vision of what full deployment entails, the study estimated the cost to be $12.7 billion.

“Accounting for cost increases, as well as additional cybersecurity and training requirements, our coalition is concerned that providing less than $15 billion will result in cybersecurity vulnerabilities and a patchwork of ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ communities, with rural areas most likely to fall behind.”

Most Beltway sources believe that extending the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority—currently set to expire at the end of September—is considered to be “must-pass” legislation by lawmakers. As a result, provisions that remain attached to the bill—as NG911 funding currently is—also would pass, if approved by the Senate.

One point of debate regarding the bill is how long the FCC’s auction authority should be extended. The bill currently calls for the FCC auction authority to be extended for 18 months, but many—including FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel—have called for a longer extension of 5 years or 10 years.

If the Senate simply passes the House version of the bill, it would allocate $10 billion for NG911 deployments, but the 911 community would not know when—or if—the money would be available.

Under the current language of H.R. 7624, NG911 funds would not be available until after the FCC conducts its 3.1-3.45 GHz auction. The FCC and NTIA would have two years simply to identify the spectrum that would be available to bidders. After that, auction rules would need to be established with time to let potential bidders identify spectrum targets and secure financing prior to the auction being conducted.

Only after the auction is completed and proceeds determined would the NTIA be able to know how much—if any—money would be available for NG911 deployments and establish a grant program to distribute the funds.

Proceeds from the auction first would be used to pay relocation costs for spectrum incumbents, with the next $3.4 billion allocated to fund the massive shortfall in the FCC’s “rip and replace” program that is designed to rid U.S. commercial networks of “untrusted” equipment—notably, gear from China-based vendors Huawei and ZTE.

After these financial obligations are met, the next $10 billion in proceeds from the proposed mid-band auction would be dedicated to funding the NG911 transition at 911 centers throughout the U.S. Of course, this $10 billion in funding could be realized only if the winning bids from the auction were great enough to support all financial obligations cited in the legislation.

NTIA would establish a grant program to fund NG911 deployments, based on the amount of money available for the purpose.

Given all of these steps that need to be completed, some public-safety representatives have expressed concern that NG911 funding might not be available until at least 2026 or 2027—and there would be no guarantee that the full $10 billion proposed in the legislation would be accessible at that point, depending on the outcome of the auction.

In the meantime, many in the public-safety industry have expressed concern that elected officials at the state and local levels—where 911 traditionally has been funded—would halt 911 improvement plans in anticipation of federal funding. If this occurs, it could slow innovation and deployment knowledge about NG911. In the worst-case scenario, state and local entities would halt NG911 plans for years, only to find out that they are not able to get the promised federal funding.

This is why the coalition describes the borrowing authority as “critical” in its letter, so 911 jurisdictions can have certainty about what federal funding will be available.

But including the $15 billion funding figure and/or the borrowing authority would require changes to the bill passed by the House. This would mean representatives of the House and Senate would have to convene in a conference committee to work out the differences in their respective legislations—assuming the Senate passes a bill—before it could be sent to President Joe Biden for enactment.

These process steps are notable, because all members on Capitol Hill are facing a busy schedule as the current session of Congress approaches its final stretch and many members are running for re-election in November.

If it wants to pass the Spectrum Innovation Act before the FCC auction authority expires on Sept. 30, the Senate will have 19 business days under the current schedule to move the legislation through the committee process, conduct a floor vote and—if necessary—complete any conference-committee work. If there is a desire to have Biden sign the bill into law by Sept. 30, that timetable would need to be accelerated.

However, there may not be a need to extend the FCC auction authority by the Sept. 30 expiration date, because FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel has said that the agency’s lawyers believe it can continue conducting the ongoing 2.5 GHz auction beyond the expiration date, if necessary.

Under this scenario, the Senate has nine business days scheduled in October before the mid-term elections. After the election, the Senate is slated to work for 23 days before the session ends.

Any legislation that does not pass by the end of the session would have to be reintroduced in the next Congress for consideration.

The coalition letter was sent to the following Senate leaders: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Commerce Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), and Senate Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member John Thune (R-S.D.).

Coalition member entities signing the letter were the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials–International (APCO), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, and the National Sheriffs’ Association.