Public Safety Funding Omitted from Stimulus

Public safety comm centers will receive only limited benefits from the $825 billion stimulus package that President Obama signed this week, since most of the funding is allocated to other sectors, and other money is available only as competitive grants awarded by state governors. None of the legislation’s tax breaks will be available to comm centers, since tax credits, depreciation bonuses and capital investment write-offs aren’t available to government entities. Several categories of the funding are completely off-limits for public safety, since they target only projects in transportation, education, energy, water and health care. There is $4 billion allocated to state and local law enforcement grants, but no other specific public safety projects, including radio or telephone systems, interoperability, computers or software, or buildings and equipment. The state and local law enforcement grant funding includes $3 billion for Byrne Justice Assistance grants of equipment and operating costs, and $1 billion for the COPS hiring grant program, which pledges 13,000 new police officers for three years. These grants come with conditions–the state or local government is responsible for at least 25% in matching funds–and very restrictive application requirements. Grant projects must fall within 29 specifically-authorized areas–and none of those areas pertain to communications, radio or telephone systems. Instead, applicants must be willing to “bend” their communications needs to fit one of the authorized areas.

Several funding requests from various groups and companies were not included in the legislation. The Public Safety Spectrum Trust asked for $15 billion to create a nationwide wireless system, Sprint/Nextel asked for $2 billion for a similar system, and NENA asked for an unspecified amount for 911 technology.

There are two sections of the stimulus package whose wording does have a public safety connection.

Under the category of improving access to broadband, the funding includes a provision to, “improve access to, and use of, broadband service by public safety agencies.” Presumably this would include upgrading existing Internet networks and equipment. The provision would not, however, include creating wireless broadband networks in the 4.9 GHz band allocated to public safety.

But another section of the funding law says money is available to, “construct and deploy broadband facilities that improve public safety broadband communications services.” Again, the wording seems to limit the money to existing capabilities, but doesn’t seem to limit projects to wired Internet networks.

Download (pdf) the full funding legislation here.

[top photo by Getty]