Decision makers, in the aftermath of a catastrophe, often feel obliged to put pen to paper in order to help ensure that the same thing does not happen twice. This urge to heed the battle cry of “Do something!”, while well-intended, has frequently led to terrible decision-making by government officials. But after Sept. 11, it led to a genuinely impressive change: the creation of the First Responder Network Authority, often shortened to FirstNet.

Sept. 11 saw emergency services from around the country volunteer to play a role in saving lives. But it also bore unfortunate witness to the fact that there was not, at the time, any platform to aid interoperability between state-based first responders.

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It took years — almost a decade — to finalize a plan, but the hard work paid off with FirstNet’s establishment in 2012, as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. Since then, FirstNet has operated as a self-described “’fast lane’ for public safety,” ensuring that first responders’ communications are prioritized. It also provides special online applications for information sharing, location services, and more.

On top of this, the government successfully got private companies to buy in, most notably AT&T, which has continued to launch cell sites and make other upgrades to the network.

This is, by all accounts, the best of government: identifying a problem, coming together to create a bipartisan solution that actually works, and getting private industry to utilize their skills and technologies to make it even better and cheaper for the taxpayer. It is a model for how government should act after a crisis.

There’s just one problem: It’s going away.

Congressional funding for FirstNet is set to sunset in 2027, fifteen years after it was initially put into effect. If Congress does not act to fund it before then, the program will expire in its entirety, meaning the near-decade of discussions and decade and a half of operation will all have been for naught.

Practically no one wants this to happen. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Fire Chiefs support it being permanently funded. AT&T’s contract, signed in the late 2010s, is for 25 years — meaning they would obviously like it to continue.

The Congressional Fire Services Institute is in full support, as is the Government Accountability Office, which highlights $15 billion in savings over its 15-year history. The Bull Moose Project, where I work as a policy analyst, has also called for FirstNet’s renewal. And over a dozen more organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders earlier this year asking for FirstNet’s ensured stability.

Yet Congress has been incredibly slow to act. A bill was introduced to eliminate the sunset provision in 2023, but it went nowhere and ultimately died in committee. Now, two years later, FirstNet is two years from expiration.

This is not to say that nothing has been done. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), who is the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, held a hearing in early September on next-gen 911 services, including on the necessity of reauthorizing FirstNet. Witnesses, including sheriffs and public safety experts, agreed on the need to reauthorize FirstNet. And the representatives present seemed to concur with such a necessity, a good sign.

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However, it’s now time for them to put action behind those concurrences. Congress has two years — a relatively short time in politics, especially with next year’s midterm elections being sure to gum up the legislative works — to pass FirstNet’s reauthorization. There are plenty of vehicles to do so, from a single-issue bill to inclusion in a budget or even a reconciliation bill.

However it happens, FirstNet must be reauthorized as soon as possible. This time, however, there is no need for a sunset provision. Back in 2012, there may have been a question as to whether or not it would work. Now, in 2025, we know the answer: It works, and it works extremely well. Congress should recognize this by promptly passing legislation to authorize FirstNet permanently.