Stearns, House Judiciary Majority Favor Five-Year DBS Reauthorization

The long awaited satellite TV reauthorization remains stuck in the House due mainly to a Congressional Budget Office bill-scoring issue. The license allowing satellite TV companies to import distant signals is to expire at the end of the month. Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., of the House Communications Subcommittee told us in a written statement Tuesday that “the bill is held up due to a copyright provision and it is not clear when the bill will proceed."

"We are presently discussing options for reauthorization,” said Stearns. The Senate has passed two versions of the reauthorization (CD March 29 p4). One, included in a jobs bill (HR-4213) by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., would have the licenses expire in five years; a second stand-alone DBS reauthorization (S-3191) would have them expire in ten years. Stearns backs the five-year extension in the House bill, he said.

The ranking member isn’t alone. The House Judiciary Committee majority strongly favors a five-year extension, given the digital transition and the fast pace of technological change, said a House Judiciary aide. Other Hill staffers noted that a five-year extension is preferable from a policy standpoint, since the shorter time frame would allow policymakers to make further tweaks to the satellite TV law sooner.

But passing a five-year reauthorization has been difficult due to a CBO “scoring” issue involving copyright royalty payments. Passing the five-year approach also depends on the House approving several other items in the jobs bill unrelated to satellite TV. Doing a 10-year reauthorization instead is said to solve the accounting issue and reduces the CBO estimate of the long-term deficit by close to $300 million compared to the five-year bill.