November 5, 2013
With the passage of the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Congress also enacted measures to develop and fund a nationwide public safety network. The purpose of the public safety network is to facilitate faster, interoperable communications capabilities for police, firefighters, emergency medical professionals and other public safety officials across levels of government. The federal legislation provides $7.0 billion in funding, a sizeable resource commitment on behalf of the federal government, that is expected to be obtained from revenue generated by spectrum lease auctions. However, many experts estimate a nationwide public safety network will cost tens of billions of dollars to construct ─ large amounts of money needed for ongoing maintenance and operation. At this time, there is no clear indication exactly what the final price tag for the network will be nor how the long-term operating and maintenance costs of the network will be funded. This makes the nationwide public safety network particularly relevant for state fiscal planners. Additionally, the potential risk for cost overruns is very real, and the project’s success will hinge on collaboration between levels of government and the private sector.
Despite these challenges, FirstNet, the independent federal authority responsible for deploying the network, is quickly beginning to mobilize organizational resources and move the project ahead on a number of fronts. To date, 54 states and territories have been awarded $116 million in funds to strengthen planning efforts and improve coordination with FirstNet. For state budget officers, this represents an opportunity to engage with state and federal officials early in the network’s development, and if the network is executed well from the start, it could enhance public safety communications and reduce future planning and budgetary risks.
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