House Communications Members Eye Packaging Spectrum Auction Renewal, 3.1-3.45 GHz Bills

House Communications Subcommittee leaders said Wednesday they’re eyeing combining the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) and revised versions of the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486) and Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) before a full Commerce Committee vote. The subpanel unanimously advanced HR-5486, HR-7624, HR-7783 and four other telecom bills Wednesday, as expected (see 2206140077).

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, meanwhile, released its FY 2023 bill Wednesday with proposals to fund the FCC and FTC mirroring what President Joe Biden sought in March (see 2203280069). The measure proposes giving the FCC $390 million, up 2.3% from what Congress appropriated in the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package Biden signed in March (see 2203150076). House Appropriations Financial Services wants to give the FTC $490 million in FY23, up 30% from FY22. The subpanel plans to mark up its funding measure at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in 2359 Rayburn (see 2206130048).

House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and other Democratic lawmakers were united in supporting HR-7783’s proposed extension of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for 18 months to March 31, 2024, as a bipartisan compromise. The subpanel advanced it 29-0. “I know there’s been a lot of public debate around how long this extension should be, and I would have liked to have seen it extended for longer, but this was the product of a bipartisan negotiation and is needed to make sure that the FCC’s authority does not expire in the middle of” the “important” upcoming 2.5 GHz auction, Doyle said.

“The goal is to ensure the FCC will be able to hold” the 2.5 GHz auction “in July without disruption, and to successfully close out those auctions that have already occurred,” said House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Congress has never let the FCC’s spectrum authority lapse, and today’s action puts us one step closer to extending it once again.” Lawmakers “cannot let the FCC’s auction authority lapse under any circumstances,” said Communications Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Failure to renew could “delay the impact of … 5G-ready spectrum” and “threaten the FCC’s ability to raise needed revenue” from license sales.

House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and others pointed to interest in combining HR-5486, HR-7624 and HR-7783 into a broader spectrum legislative package. “I encourage my colleagues to continue their work and include” HR-7783 “along with” HR-5486 and HR-7624 “at full committee,” Rodgers said: House Commerce “has a rich history of working together” on bipartisan legislation “that becomes law” and combining the three measures will “be critical to ensuring” their “successful passage.” House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said he’s “hopeful that we can include” all three measures in a “broader package as we move to full committee.”

House Communications approved by voice vote Latta's amendment to HR-7624, which proposes to use the 3.1-3.45 GHz auction the measure authorizes to pay for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and additional funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks’ equipment. The subpanel also unanimously approved Matsui’s amendment to HR-5486, which altered the measure’s original proposal for an NTIA-administered standardized framework for facilitating spectrum sharing between federal and nonfederal users to allow licensed and unlicensed use.

Funding Support

There was vocal bipartisan support for Latta’s HR-7624 amendment, which allocates $3.4 billion in sales to the rip and replace program and $10 billion for NG-911. The $3.4 billion allocated to rip and replace is the difference between the $1.9 billion Congress originally allocated for the program and the FCC’s recent $5.3 billion estimate of applicants’ total demands for reimbursement (see 2206080066). Competitive Carriers Association President Steven Berry hailed the proposal, saying it “could now fully fund” the rip and replace program, “which is critical for affected carriers.”

“It’s really great to see that we’re funding both a replacement of suspect telecommunications equipment in our networks as well as NG-911,” Pallone said: “This $10 billion” for NG-911 “is a great step forward to make sure that this technology is available to all communities.” The proposed NG-911 allocation mirrors what House Commerce included in an earlier version of the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (see 2109140063). The version of that measure the House eventually passed included $490 million for NG-911 (see 2111190042).

Republicans hailed the HR-7624 amendment as a fiscally responsible way to fund NG-911 and the rip and replace program. “Funding for both of these programs to promote public safety and national security will be funded using spectrum auction proceeds rather than taxpayer dollars,” Latta said: That’s “an efficient use of funds that does not contribute to our nation’s massive debt.” Ensuring “small providers can remove” suspect equipment “is essential,” while additional NG-911 funding via spectrum sales provides “pure benefit to taxpayers,” Rodgers said.

NG-911 “is going to allow all of our 911 emergency communications centers” to harness “the power of 21st century technology to respond to 21st century emergencies,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. “What we’re doing today speeds up” nationwide adoption of NG-911 technology “by decades” and is “going to make an enormous difference.” She noted language setting up the NG-911 grant program is a “fine-tuned” progression from her own past legislative proposals. The proposed $10 billion “is significant,” but “it’s approximated that $15 billion will be needed to bring all of our call centers to where we need to be,” Eshoo said: HR-7624 “will bring us closer to taking the final step so that” NG-911 “is fully funded.”

Also advanced: the Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients Act (HR-4275), Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-4990), Preventing Disruptions to Universal Service Funds Act (HR-5400) and Safe Connections Act (HR-7132). An amendment to HR-4275 from Pallone would require the FCC to do a report on the number of SNAP participants that are enrolled in the Lifeline and affordable connectivity programs. The amendment would require a separate GAO report on outreach and publicity efforts for Lifeline. An amendment to HR-5400 from House Communications Republicans would change the length of a proposed extension of an exemption of USF from Antideficiency Act provisions to Dec. 31, 2023, instead of the same time in 2024.