Hudson: Draft FirstNet Renewal Bill 'in Good Shape' After Hearing; 'Tweaks' Possible
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us Wednesday that there may be some minor changes to the draft First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act (see 2601280054), but bipartisan subpanel members’ apparent support for the measure during a hearing that day makes it unlikely he will make more sweeping revisions in response to criticisms from the Fraternal Order of Police and other groups. FOP said Tuesday that elements of the draft legislation “could foster unnecessary administrative hurdles that slow down FirstNet's functionality” and urged lawmakers to instead consider a clean reauthorization of the public safety broadband network (see 2602030047).
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“There may be some tweaks coming” to the FirstNet bill before House Communications marks up the measure, “but I think we're in good shape to move” already, Hudson said in an interview after Wednesday's hearing. The measure would renew FirstNet’s mandate through Sept. 30, 2037, and proposes requiring that NTIA approve “any action” the network takes, apart from to-be-identified exceptions. It would also create an associate NTIA administrator to “manage [FirstNet] staff and operations” and require FirstNet to provide lawmakers “any contract” between the authority and its contractors.
“We're working with stakeholders to make sure we've got it right, and I think we heard today some really good testimony that I think will inform our ongoing discussions,” Hudson said, adding that he's hoping House Communications can vote on the proposal within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Hudson said during an Incompas event Wednesday that he would like to see next-generation 911 technology upgrades be a priority use of roughly $20 billion in BEAD non-deployment funds (see 2602040012).
Hudson didn’t comment on FOP’s concerns about the draft but partially discounted earlier criticisms from former FirstNet Board Chairs Richard Carrizzo and Sue Swenson (see 2601210069). Carrizzo and Swenson “came out against the draft before they saw” actual legislative language, Hudson said. Carrizzo didn’t immediately comment.
During the hearing, Hudson pushed back against “critics” of the FirstNet draft who he said have claimed that it “will increase bureaucratic delays and diminish effectiveness of the network for public safety.” The Public Safety Broadband Technology Association said Monday on X that the proposal represented a “possible ‘coup’ … to take over control of” FirstNet and urged lawmakers to keep the “Authority independent & focused on public safety needs.”
Michael Dame, NTIA's associate administrator for the Office of Public Safety Communications, said the agency “has no interest in getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the FirstNet Authority or its contractor, AT&T. In fact, we will always rely on the expertise and public safety input of the board and the Public Safety Advisory Committee.” FirstNet’s staff needs to implement the board’s “strategic decisions,” while the federal government should “support the implementation of those strategic decisions and provide performance accountability as it's being implemented and after the fact,” Dame said.
Pallone: 'Good-Faith Effort'
Dame and Scott Agnew, AT&T's president of FirstNet and public safety mobility, told Rep. Nannette Barragan, D-Calif., that they didn’t want any changes to the language in the draft bill. FirstNet acting board Chair Michael Adkinson urged lawmakers to give the board only “some direct oversight” of the authority’s executive director “so that we have some say in who that is and what their performance metrics would be.” Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, the draft’s lead Democratic sponsor, later said the proposal would replace the FirstNet Authority’s executive director role with the NTIA associate administrator position and, that official would be “subject to performance reviews in consultation with” the board chair.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and other Republicans were enthusiastic about the current draft and, in part, emphasized the consequences of not renewing FirstNet’s mandate before it expires in February 2027. Panel Vice Chair Neal Dunn of Florida, the bill's lead GOP sponsor, said it “will help” address shortcomings in FirstNet’s current governance structure. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said it “strengthens oversight, improves outage reporting, clarifies responsibility and ensures that FirstNet keeps evolving.”
House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Communications ranking member Doris Matsui of California and other Democrats didn’t use their time to criticize the current draft language and, in some instances, outright supported it. Pallone said the proposal “represents a good-faith effort to address concerns that have been raised with the committee over the years” about FirstNet’s governance and emphasized that a renewal bill should address significant changes from “conditions that existed when” Congress enacted the network authority in 2012.
Matsui drilled down on what FirstNet decisions Congress should give NTIA final authority to make and which ones should remain “internal.” Adkinson said he wants the board to remain in control of decisions that require “public safety expertise.” There “has to be an accountability factor to make sure that what is the actual will of the board is actually carried out.”
Matsui also eyed potential language requiring “specific metrics and reporting … to verify” FirstNet’s annual progress in “expanding coverage into rural and hard-to-serve areas.” She noted that “too many communities still face cellular dead zones, especially in rural areas,” and FirstNet’s “coverage maps don't always match what responders see on the ground.”