Imagine calling 911 on your smartphone during an emergency and not having to waste time reciting your address, because dispatchers already know where you are.
Imagine sending a picture of a criminal suspect to 911 dispatchers, who could use it in the early stages of a criminal investigation.
And imagine beefing up 911 so it’s less susceptible to some of the hacks that have crippled the system across the country in recent years.
These are the goals of the Next Generation 911 Act, which was introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and other House Democrats who are looking to speed up efforts to bring the 911 emergency call service into the future.
According to Eshoo, the Democratic co-chair of the Congressional NextGen 911 Caucus, the problem is one of missed opportunity. People can communicate today in ways that were unforeseen when the 911 emergency number was established nationwide in the late 1960s. But most efforts to reach 911 are still done by telephone.
“We now hold in our pockets a computer with the ability to send texts, images, video, and use GPS to help us in our day-to-day lives,” she told the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, our nation’s aging 911 infrastructure has not kept pace with these innovations.”
She said the ultimate aim of the bill is to let 911 dispatchers seamlessly “receive text messages, photos, and video from people at the scene of an emergency, or the location of someone dialing 911 during an emergency.”
Congress took a small step toward modernizing 911 services in 2012 by passing the Next Generation 911 Advancement Act. That bill provided some grant funding to help states and territories upgrade their services. But Eshoo and other lawmakers have complained that the government never disbursed that funding.
Eshoo’s new bill doesn’t recommend a specific level of funding for the project. Instead, it’s purposefully vague because the government is expected to finalize its estimate of how much federal aid states and territories will need to update their 911 services.
Trey Forgety, director of government affairs for the National Emergency Number Association, said the estimated cost of transitional funding from the federal government could be $10 to $15 billion.
That could be a serious obstacle to overcome in a Republican-led House and Senate that has shown an appetite only for boosting defense spending. Aside from the usual reluctance to spend on nondefense, Republicans have lately been casting a critical eye on states that raid the 911 fees that they collect from consumers and are supposed to be used to boost their 911 programs.
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., the House Republican co-chair of the NextGen 911 caucus, says stopping states from using these funds for other purposes should be Congress’ first priority, which means new funds for 911 grants could be hard to pass into law.
“Congressman Shimkus’ focus recently has been on the states that divert the 911 fees they collect from consumers,” said Jordan Haverly, a spokesman for Shimkus. “Generally speaking, he thinks funds collected to operate and update 911 systems should be used for those purposes before new, federal funding is authorized.”
But Eshoo’s office is optimistic that Republicans stand ready to work with Democrats on funding once the final estimate is released, and notes that House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., is someone who helped advance a 2012 bill that pushed for 911 improvements.
His office indicated that progress is possible. “The chairman looks forward to a bipartisan solution as we’ve had in the past on this issue,” a House aide said.
And Forgety of the National Emergency Number Association says the Trump administration’s push for new infrastructure spending could provide an opportunity. The White House is expected to release its proposed $1 trillion spending plan this month, which could help unlock the funds.
“It’s very clear there is an intent to do something on infrastructure, and we believe the majority might want to get behind this,” Forgety said.
