First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Chief Executive Officer Mike Poth today stressed in a blog posting that FirstNet is obligated under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to continue to use funds to reinvest in the nationwide public safety network and support public safety communications advancements. Under FirstNet’s request for proposal (RFP), at least $5.625 billion in payments would have to be made to FirstNet by its partner over the 25-year contract. Multiple questions submitted to FirstNet in response to the RFP asked about FirstNet’s use of those funds. Some questions tried to elicit information about what FirstNet plans to do with the money. The answers to how the money would be spent were not very specific.

“Must the funds slated for payment to FirstNet over time be paid even if the network is working well and only a ministerial or supervisory role by FirstNet is required?” one party asked. “Yes, payments must be made to FirstNet based on the Contractor’s proposed solution throughout the life of the contract,” FirstNet replied. “FirstNet must be sustainable on an ongoing basis and in any given Government fiscal year pursuant to the Act and other applicable statutes and as stated in the RFP and resultant contract.”

“Under the Act, Congress provided FirstNet alone the ability to collect and retain funds for the purpose of making expenditures to support the NPSBN.  Indeed, the Act specifically requires such reinvestment,” Mr. Poth said in his blog posting today. “As such, only FirstNet is authorized to utilize these funds and they are not subject to re-allocation from FirstNet for any other purposes. These amounts will be used to pay FirstNet’s overhead costs, for reinvestment in the NPSBN, and, more generally, to support advances or enhancements in public safety communications.  This means that FirstNet will continue to operate even in the case of a government-wide shutdown resulting from any delay in approving the annual appropriations bills and makes available a long-term funding stream to provide confidence to NPSBN stakeholders that the network will endure. 

“The funding resilience that the Act provides is an important aspect of fulfilling FirstNet’s mission,” Mr. Poth added. “That mission also requires that the NPSBN be robust, hardened, and enduring. The FirstNet network must be a long term tool for the public safety community, and services provided through the network must continue to be meaningful and meet the needs of public safety now and in the future.”  

Mr. Poth continued that “under the Act, FirstNet is able to collect amounts to advance or enhance public safety communications, while certain resources collected by FirstNet, such as fees collected under the agreement with the NPSBN awardee in excess of FirstNet’s overhead costs, are specifically earmarked under the Act for ‘constructing, maintaining, operating, or improving’ the NPSBN.  This means that the public-private arrangements anticipated under the Act will promote the enduring nature of the NPSBN through direct reinvestment in the network throughout its lifetime.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

 Courtesy TRDaily