$1 billion of new money for interoperable comms
CQ indicates (3mb PDF) that the version of the budget bill (S. 1932) passed by the House today contains $1 billion to fund a new Public Safety Interoperable Communications Fund, a program described in Sec. 160 of the bill. The version of the bill still on Thomas contains $500 million for this state and local grant program. This doubling is a significant increase, and likely is at least partially in response to the 9/11 Public Discourse Project’s “F” grade on interoperable communications for first responders.
