NASNA President: Group Isn't 'at Odds' With NENA on Federal NG-911 Funding Push

National Association of State 911 Administrators President Pokey Harris clarified Wednesday that her organization and the National Emergency Number Association are “absolutely not at odds” on pushing for Congress to address funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades, despite statements in a Tuesday interview indicating some minor differences in the groups' preferred processes (see 2507080065). Republican lawmakers decided against allocating any future spectrum auction revenue for NG-911 in the budget reconciliation package that both chambers passed last week (see 2507030056).

NASNA and NENA “are very much aligned on the work that we’re doing” to push for swift federal funding to “ensure that NG-911 is a reality across the country,” Harris said Wednesday. On Tuesday, she told us she supports seeking updates to a 2018 911 Implementation Coordination Office estimate that full deployment of NG-911 would cost $9.5 billion-$12.7 billion overall, a position also voiced by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., in May (see 2505140062). NENA CEO Brian Fontes argued Tuesday against a full reexamination of the 2018 estimate because further study would likely cause more delays in what has already been a lengthy process for appropriating NG-911 funding.

“We realize that there’s more information that can be of value to help move [NG-911 funding] legislation forward,” Harris said Wednesday. That includes “the costing and even current status of all the 911 centers in states that are looking for NG-911 deployment.”