HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 66

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006

INTRODUCED BY

Janice E. Arnold-Jones

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY CREATE A TASK FORCE TO REVIEW THE INTEROPERABILITY OF FIRST RESPONDERS AND THE SURVIVABILITY OF COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, the term "interoperability" means the ability of emergency response providers to share voice, data and video information and to communicate across jurisdictions during emergencies, or as necessary; and

     WHEREAS, the term "survivability" means the ability to provide and maintain adequate communications in the event of a natural disaster or catastrophic emergency, including one in which there has been significant damage to, or destruction of, critical infrastructure, substantial loss of ordinary telecommunications infrastructure or sustained loss of electricity; and

     WHEREAS, in every major public safety incident in recent memory, significant failures in communication have been cited, and high-profile incidents, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the events of September 11, have brought added attention to the need of first responders to be able to communicate with each other during catastrophic events; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, recent incidents, such as the Cerro Grande fire, the Bosque fires and the fires in southeastern New Mexico, have tested the state's interoperability capabilities, because each incident required a coordinated response by numerous first responders and multiple agencies; and

     WHEREAS, emergency and communications planners must also prepare for a potential loss of the infrastructure that supports public safety communications, as occurred during Hurricane Katrina; and

     WHEREAS, public safety agencies must, first and foremost, plan for their normal communications needs in order to respond to routine emergencies, and interoperability and communications redundancy are expensive and involve coordination among multiple levels of government; and

     WHEREAS, these important issues often are not addressed by public safety agencies, which frequently struggle to meet even day-to-day communications needs;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of public safety be requested to create a task force, in collaboration with other public safety agencies and first responders as identified by the legislature, to convene as necessary and examine the current communications issues, including interoperability and communications survivability in the state, and report its findings and recommendations to the legislative information technology oversight committee by December 31, 2006; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, at a minimum, the task force develop:

          A. an assessment of the current status of interoperability in the state;

          B. an assessment of the current status of communications survivability in the state;

          C. recommendations on establishing a permanent entity of stakeholders to address and coordinate the issues of interoperability, survivability and public safety communications;

          D. recommendations on priorities for possible state or federal funding, as it becomes available, to address the issues of interoperability, survivability and public safety communications;

          E. recommendations to the legislature on changes to current state law that will remove barriers to or encourage communications interoperability and survivability;

          F. recommendations to state, local and tribal executives on policy changes that will remove barriers to or encourage communications interoperability and survivability;

          G. recommendations on achieving a greater level of understanding of the importance of interoperability, survivability and public safety communications;

          H. goals and objectives for public safety agencies, with regard to communications interoperability and survivability; and

          I. steps necessary to achieve the goals and objectives of public safety agencies, with regard to communications interoperability and survivability; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public safety.

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