WASHINGTON-Members of the House Commerce Committee led by Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), co-chairs of the Congressional E911 Caucus, urged congressional appropriators last week to fully fund E911 grants and the Joint Program Office created in a bill signed by President George W. Bush late last year.
“We realize that with this year’s budget, some programs might not receive all the funding they request. We feel this program is important to improving our nation’s 911 system and our emergency-response preparedness, and therefore, should be funded at appropriate levels. In addition, we urge you to ensure that the National Telecommunications & Information Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have adequate resources to staff the new joint program office that NTIA and NHTSA are required to create under the statute,” reads the letters sent to the chairmen of the House appropriations transportation and commerce subcommittees.
The Congressional E911 Caucus scored a major victory late last year with the passage of the Enhanced 911 Act, but when President Bush presented his budget request to Congress there was no money for the E911 grants-authorized for $250 million-or to fund a joint program office.
“We are glad to see the consensus and bipartisan support for funding the 911 joint program office,” said Stephen Seitz, government affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association.
The creation of the joint program office, seen by many in public safety as the key to the advancement of E911, appears to be in slow motion. As negotiated in Congress, the JPO would be part of both the NTIA in the Department of Commerce and NHTSA in the Department of Transportation.
During the fight to get the bill passed, the White House had said the bill was unnecessary and that public-safety answering points could get money for E911 upgrades from homeland-security grants. This would appear to be difficult because first-responder grants were slashed in the Bush budget request.
