iCERT Advocacy Update: New Speaker on the Job

The House today elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the 56th Speaker, bringing an end to an intraparty stalemate after the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over three weeks ago. Now that the paralysis in the House appears to have been resolved, we can expect work on passing a government funding bill by November 17th, as well as legislation related to the wars in Ukraine and Israel to take priority through November.

iCERT will seek to build relationships with Speaker Johnson and his team as we continue our efforts to pass NG911 funding legislation. As reported a few weeks ago, the prospects for Congressional action this year appear unlikely at this time due to the priorities mentioned above, as well as unsettled questions over spectrum policy since spectrum auctions are the preferred funding source. Additionally, an unfavorable DoD report on the Lower 3 GHz band and a National Spectrum Strategy that has not yet been finalized also point to 2024 as being the earliest we should expect any action on either spectrum or NG911.

In the meantime, iCERT intends to continue its advocacy efforts to educate Members of Congress on the benefits of NG911 and its critical importance to national security. Over the next few months, we expect to build a stronger coalition of support with key public safety and state/local government organizations. Additionally, there will be discussions regarding our initial plans for next year’s advocacy push during next week’s iCERT Fall Member Meeting.