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Barbara Neil urges broader CAD language, warns CARE emergency registry could be barred
Summary
Barbara Neil, executive director of the 911 Board and co-chair of the Public Safety Communications Task Force, told the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on March 11 that draft emergency-management language should be changed to authorize a multidisciplinary computer‑aided dispatch system and avoid language that would disallow the voluntary CARE emergency registry (about 400 registrants).
Barbara Neil, executive director of the 911 Board and co-chair of the Public Safety Communications Task Force, told the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on March 11 that lawmakers should broaden the emergency‑management bill’s procurement language so it authorizes a multidisciplinary computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) system rather than narrowly permitting only “equipment.”
Neil said the change would ensure the state’s investment covers software, integration and other non‑hardware components so the end product “serves and supports all first responders, not just one.” She recommended replacing phrasing such as “procure and install equipment” with language along the lines of “procure and implement a multidisciplinary computer‑aided dispatch system.”
The recommendation came during review of draft 2.3 of an act relating to emergency management. Committee members and Neil discussed both the precise statutory wording and the practical need to describe how any remaining funds would be used; Neil said task‑force recommendations include a multi‑project plan for the roughly $11 million that was previously appropriated.
Neil also warned the committee that a separate provision in the draft — language on page 14 as she read it — could have the unintended effect of disallowing the CARE program, a voluntary Citizens Assistance Registry for Emergencies that the 911 Board supports. “The CARE program … allows individuals to self‑register and identify any specific needs they might have in the event of a widescale event,” Neil said, adding that the registry currently has “just over 400 registrants.” She said the registry’s data can be shared with first responders, town emergency managers or Vermont Emergency Management during an event or in planning.
Committee members signaled concern about the registry’s future and about low public and responder awareness of CARE. Neil said she has been coordinating outreach with Vermont Emergency Management and first‑responder organizations but paused broader public outreach pending the bill’s outcome. She also flagged other related data sets that could be affected, including a disability designation tied to landline records and a supplemental program that links similar information to cellphone numbers; she asked the committee to review how those datasets would be treated if the legislation advances.
Committee leadership emphasized the speed of the legislative timeline: House Appropriations has asked for round budget figures and a timeline for any planned projects, and chairs said the session’s schedule requires enabling language to be finalized this week to move forward this session. Neil offered to provide firmer budget numbers to the deputy commissioner and committee staff later the same day.
The committee recessed and noted it would return at 1:00 p.m. to take up an OPR bill.
