Schumer announces proposed law to retain system that LI first responders rely on 

Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday announced proposed legislation to extend the use of a communications system employed by first responders across Long Island that is slated to expire under a federal mandate.

The T-Band signal spectrum is used by firefighters, police and EMS workers to communicate with each other on a daily basis and during emergency responses. Under the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, the FCC was directed to auction the UHF T-band spectrum by 2021, with the belief that a better communications system would be in place at that time.  But no system has been established, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, and under the law, officials must begin readying T-Band for auction next year.

“Whether it’s a heroin bust in Nassau or a blaze in Suffolk or an emergency medical response to save the life of a mom or dad, T-Band has been the way that Long Islanders respond,” Schumer said. “The FCC is saying to all our first responders, ‘Move out of your old house and move into a new one.’ A new one isn’t built.”

The Democrat’s Senate bill, the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act of 2018, was introduced last week and would repeal the directive. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) are co-sponsors. The House version of the bill was introduced in March by Reps. Peter King (R-Seaford), Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and Eliot Engel (D-Bronx).

The T-Band system has been in use since the 1970s, Schumer said, but it was upgraded and became widespread after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, when first responders on different signals couldn’t communicate with one another.

“We all learned the terrible situation on 9/11 when our firefighters couldn’t talk to our police officers, when units from different localities couldn’t talk to one another and it led to a lot of deaths,” Schumer said, speaking from the scene of an April fire in Babylon battled by eight fire departments.

Schumer said the T-Band signal is worth a lot of money in the private sector, which is why they “can’t wait to get their sticky fingers” on it at auction. But he said the system is “priceless” to first responders and without putting another system in place, getting rid of T-Band puts lives at risk.

“We don’t put private profit over public lives,” he said.

King said he may opt to attach the bill to omnibus legislation to ensure it goes through.

“It’s not an exotic issue, it’s not an issue that people feel in their pocketbook," King said. "It's not anything that people are going to see the results of until it’s too late, so we have to get the word out.”

Schumer was joined at the news conference by local officials and first responders.

Myles Quinn, representing the Fire Chiefs Council of Suffolk County, said replacing the T-Band system is projected to cost the county as much as $300 million. He said loss of the system will impact New York City and 10 other major metropolitan areas around the country that use it to protect 90 million people.

“It will be quite a public safety disaster if we lose this,” Quinn said.