Why it Matters

Two pieces of legislation with direct public safety consequences are moving through the House Energy and Commerce Committee markup on March 25 — and one of them is running out of time. The First Responder Network Authority, known as FirstNet, expires in February 2027, and city leaders are already warning that a lapse would put emergency communications at risk. Simultaneously, the Emergency Alert System — the infrastructure that pushes warnings to millions of phones and televisions during disasters — is being scrutinized for modernization as the FCC conducts its own parallel review.

The FirstNet Clock

FirstNet's reauthorization has drawn urgent calls from local government leaders. At the National League of Cities' Congressional City Conference, NLC CEO Clarence Anthony warned of serious public safety consequences if the network lapses. The Senate held its own reauthorization hearing around the same time, with the Fierce Network reporting that the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee had already voted to advance the bill to the full committee — setting the stage for this week's markup.

The legislation has bipartisan backing inside the committee itself. Vice Chair Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL-2) and Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-4) have been working together to extend FirstNet's authorization while adding governance, transparency, and accountability provisions. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7) separately reintroduced H.R. 3366, the FirstNet Reauthorization Act, to make the network permanent.

The Emergency Alert System

The second bill addresses modernization of the Emergency Alert System. The FCC has an open comment period examining whether EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts meet their stated goals — a process running in parallel with the congressional markup. Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) announced the markup on March 23, identifying both bills as the subjects.

Who's in the Room

Rep. Guthrie chairs the proceeding, with Reps. Dunn and Rep. John Joyce (R-PA-13) serving as Vice Chairs. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6) is the Ranking Member.

The committee's membership spans a wide ideological range, and the bipartisan co-sponsorship activity on FirstNet suggests the reauthorization bill is unlikely to face significant opposition at the markup stage. The EAS modernization bill's contours are less defined publicly.

Lobbying Backdrop

The National Association of Broadcasters lobbied the committee across all four quarters of 2025, spending $160,000 on issues including ATSC 3.0 next-generation television standards and the Local Radio Freedom Act — both of which intersect with how emergency alerts are delivered over broadcast infrastructure. The NAB's PAC directed $10,000 to committee member Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-9) during the period.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association directed PAC contributions to multiple committee members, including $2,000 to Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9), $1,000 each to Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Jennifer McClellan, and John Joyce, and $2,500 to Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23) — members who will vote on both bills.

Google Client Services specifically named the Energy and Commerce Committee in its fourth quarter 2025 lobbying disclosure, flagging AI preemption and cybersecurity as active monitoring priorities — issues that could surface as amendments in any technology-adjacent markup.

The markup proceeds as Congress faces a hard deadline on FirstNet and a growing policy gap on emergency alert infrastructure — two systems that Americans rely on when other communications fail.

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