House Subcommittee Advances Bills on Next Generation 911, FirstNet Oversight

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2026 – The House Communications and Technology Subcommittee advanced Thursday six bipartisan bills on public safety communications.

They included measures that would create a federal grant program for Next Generation 911 upgrades, create a new Commerce Department office to manage oversight of the agency’s nationwide first responder network, and direct the Federal Communications Commission to review its outage reporting policies.

All six bills were passed by voice vote. They would need to clear the full Energy and Commerce Committee before being taken up by the full House.

Next Generation 9-1-1 Act (H.R. 6505)