Ainsley Shea 6/27/19 Ainsley Shea 6/27/19

DPC in Great Bend Tribune

On June 27, Domestic Policy Caucus Chairman Patrick Rosenstiel wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Great Bend Tribune discussing the California Assembly Bill 539.

After highlighting the predatory nature of AB 539, Rosenstiel closed with the following, “According to a recent Federal Reserve Board study, 40 percent of Americans do not have $400 on hand to meet an emergency situation. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Californians living on the edge, most with less than stellar credit, take out short-term installment loans from companies that aren’t banks to put out fires between paychecks. Cars get wrecked. Kids get hurt. Grocery shelves empty. The rent’s due. Honest, smart, hardworking people can easily find themselves in a financial crunch. Under AB 539, these folks easily become victims. Opportun has litigated against tens of thousands of minority families in LA County alone. This bill deserves to go on the compost heap of bad ideas, and fast.”

Read the full op-ed here.

Ainsley Shea 6/26/19 Ainsley Shea 6/26/19

DPC Daily News: In California, borrowers risk becoming victims of predatory deceit

On June 26, Domestic Policy Caucus Chairman Patrick Rosenstiel, penned a op-ed regarding California Assembly Bill 539 and its predatory nature.

Rosenstiel wrote, in part, “AB 539 is cronyism at its worst, cooked up by well-lobbied Democratic leaders whose campaign coffers are fattened by three huge loan companies – OneMain, Opportun, and Lendmark. These operations rake in hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling consumers expensive add-ons like credit insurance that they don’t want or need. They are bad players with an exclusive arsenal of 36 percent products, bent on using this bill to drive good players, who charge more up front but are honest with their clients, out of the market.”

Read the full op-ed here.

Ainsley Shea 6/20/16 Ainsley Shea 6/20/16

FirstNet is part of an international movement

As America’s federal government moves forward with the implementation of a national wireless first response system, other countries around the world have already gotten a head start on their first response systems. From South Korea to Great Britain, some of the world’s most technologically advanced nations are creating LTE networks to support their first responders. Each system has its own unique purpose, but the U.S. can certainly learn from the international systems already in place.

A pilot version of SafeNet, South Korea’s LTE first response network is set to launch this month, with the final version expected to be deployed by December of 2017. The network’s main function will provide Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT) service to first responders to more easily facilitate communication between paramedics, police, fire departments and other first responders. The urgency of implementing South Korea’s MCPTT system was underscored in May of 2014, when the MV Sewol ferry sunk, resulting in 304 deaths out of the 476 passengers. Many of the passengers were students, who were able to communicate with their families and friends over their LTE broadband network better than emergency responders using traditional land-mobile radio networks.

The United Kingdom is now moving from its TETRA-based first response system to a national LTE-based emergency services network (ESN). Previous moves to change emergency communications systems have been met with criticism from the British public safety community, however this transition has been widely lauded. The British government has already signed contracts with British mobile communications company EE for network services and with Motorola Solutions for mission-critical systems integration and functionality. The system is expected to be fully functional within the next year and a half.

While the U.K. and South Korea have far less ground to cover with their emergency LTE networks, it is important that we recognize the drive and determination it took to implement these systems on such a short timeline. When FirstNet comes to fruition in the U.S., it will have a more extensive functionality than any other emergency LTE networks in the world, but it will only be useful once it is fully functional – which cannot happen soon enough.

Ainsley Shea 6/14/16 Ainsley Shea 6/14/16

Ohio brings benefits of FirstNet to life by developing a video game

The state of Ohio has raised the bar for communicating with the public about the impact of FirstNet, the nation’s first wireless network for emergency responders. The game called “Next Generation Firefighter” shows how firefighters will use FirstNet in the future to battle fires with access to tools like integrated blueprints, real-time mapping and thermal imaging…

The game allows Ohio to proactively connect with the public on public safety issues in a meaningful manner. With the benefits of FirstNet so clearly demonstrated, in an interactive and entertaining way, Ohio seems to be hoping to garner greater public awareness and support for the network, which is still in its infancy. This initiative show Ohio as a great example of the efforts each state should be taking, in tandem with federal implementation efforts, to push the ball forward on creating FirstNet.

FirstNet will not be the easiest product to sell to the public. The network comes with a heavy price tag at both the federal and state level. Additionally, it rings of a large-scale, bureaucratic federal "project," the likes of which often fall on deadlines, budget estimates and expectations. While reading about the benefits of the technology would not likely hold the attention of the general public, a demonstration of the profound advantage first responders have with 21st century technology makes the “no-brainer” case for creating the network, and fast.

There’s no doubt that FirstNet will save lives. The uphill battle is proving that point to the powers that be who will decide how and when it is created. With this move, Ohio just did our entire nation a service.

Ainsley Shea 6/10/16 Ainsley Shea 6/10/16

No doubt the winner of FirstNet RFP will be the public

In January, FirstNet, the federally funded wireless first responders network released an RFP calling for bids from wireless communication providers to build the system. Early estimates the contract will be worth roughly $100 billion dollar over 25 years. Given the magnitude and value of the RFP, it is sure to attract the interest in the biggest names in wireless…

FirstNet’s RFP details 16 core objectives sought after by the company charged with creating the system, including details on how the system’s design would handle issues of cyber security to ensuring interoperability between a wide, diverse range of public services and agencies. Being that FirstNet is a first-of-its-kind system, it will be difficult for any company to prove their qualifications through experience, meaning we will likely see thorough, detailed and creative thinking amongst responses.

The competition spurred by FirstNet’s RFP will undoubtedly lead to some true innovation at the crossroads of public safety and technology. We can expect to see functional yet creative ideas emerge from this process on how to best coordinate across our nation’s fast system of first responders to ensure Americans are as safe as possible.

It is now up to Federal officials to ensure that FirstNet is implemented in a timely manner. While the RFP process should certainly not be rushed, Americans should take it upon ourselves to let the government know this is a top priority for the future safety of this nation.