Rep. Stier Amendment Creates Task Force to Address Aging Public Safety Radio System

St. Paul – Representative Terry Stier, R-Belle Plaine, offered the A21 amendment to House File 1082, the Public Safety Budget bill, today to help Minnesota address the long-term funding and maintenance needs of the state’s public safety radio communications infrastructure. The amendment was approved and passed as part of the bill.

The amendment creates a task force to study the Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response, known as ARMER, and recommend how to transition the system and related emergency communications infrastructure to a statewide, state-funded framework.

ARMER is used by law enforcement, fire departments, EMS, dispatch centers, MnDOT, the State Patrol, DNR, counties, cities, and other emergency responders across Minnesota. After more than two decades of use, key parts of the system are aging, increasingly expensive to maintain, and in need of a serious replacement and sustainment plan.

“Police, fire, EMS, deputies, dispatchers, and emergency personnel depend on ARMER every day,” Stier said. “When they pick up the radio, that system needs to work. This is basic public safety infrastructure, and Minnesota needs a serious long-term plan to maintain it.”

The task force would review potential funding sources, agency roles, performance standards, and recommendations needed to keep Minnesota’s emergency communications system reliable and up to date.

“We cannot wait until equipment fails to figure out how we are going to pay for repairs and replacement,” Stier said. “This amendment starts that work now.”