House GOP Flips on D-Block, But Reid Says No Spectrum Vote This Year

Reid’s December to-do list doesn’t include spectrum legislation (S-911) by Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-Nev., Reid told reporters Tuesday: “Don’t tell him that, but no.” Some Democratic senators had been considering attaching spectrum legislation to an appropriations omnibus in December. But some Republicans have reservations about linking spectrum to a spending bill. “I'm always nervous about authorizing on appropriations bills,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told us Tuesday. But McCain, who supports legislation to give public safety the D-block, said he'll “have to look at it."

The Senate Commerce Committee dismissed Reid’s comments. “Our plan for some time has been to wrap the broad provisions of [S-911] into a larger deficit or omnibus or gang of 6 package,” spokesman Vincent Morris said by email. “We are still pursuing that option and the Leader’s comments this afternoon on the fact that he does not expect a separate floor vote on the issue do not change a thing.” Reid didn’t say whether he was talking about voting on a stand-alone bill. “We are focused on the big picture,” Morris said. “Given the movement on spectrum in the House this week, things are looking very good and we still hope to see a good outcome on public safety legislation come about this year.”

House Commerce Republicans’ support of D-block reallocation marks a “major step” in the effort to pass spectrum legislation, said Public Safety Alliance spokesman Sean Kirkendall. He said there’s still room for discussion over governance and funding of the network. The Walden bill provides less money than S-911 and the House Commerce Democratic bill. House Republicans may have changed their mind because reallocation was agreed to by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction before they announced failure to reach agreement on the larger package, Kirkendall said.

The new House GOP bill would give the D-block and up to $6.5 billion for the national public safety network. Walden said the bill would provide $15 billion for deficit reduction. The bill authorizes voluntary incentive auctions, streamlines the government relocation process, and extends the FCC’s auction authority through 2021.

House Commerce Democrats’ rival bill also authorizes incentive auctions, streamlines government relocation and reallocates the D-block. But the Democratic version gives $11 billion for the public safety network. Another major difference is how the bills handle unlicensed spectrum. The Democratic bill would allow the FCC to repurpose some of the spectrum freed up in voluntary incentive auctions for unlicensed use. In contrast, the Walden bill requires the FCC to auction in incentive auctions all the spectrum it clears, but lets the FCC “add to the approximately 675 MHz of unlicensed spectrum currently available below 6 GHz by allowing secondary, shared use of this spectrum or primary, dedicated use of other spectrum,” a GOP summary of the bill said. The Walden bill requires the FCC to open a proceeding to allow unlicensed use on the 5 GHz band. The NTIA would have to do a study assessing spectrum-sharing technologies and the risk to federal users if unlicensed devices are allowed in the band.

Another difference is how each bill structures governance of the public safety network. Like S-911, the Democratic bill creates a Public Safety Broadband Corporation to set up and operate the network. The Walden bill would assign a license to the D-block to the administrator of a National Public Safety Communications Plan. The administrator and the Plan’s board, established by the FCC, would develop the plan within one year. The FCC would have to adopt the proposal without modification or reject it no later than 90 days after its submission. If rejected, the board would have 90 days to submit a revised plan.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., is “concerned about the governance provisions included in the Majority bill,” she told us by email. “It does not protect taxpayer monies and will not provide the type of efficient and effective public safety interoperability network that America’s first responders need and deserve.” A strong governance structure is critical to the success of the public safety network, she said.

The initial license to the D-block would be 10 years under the Walden bill, but it could subsequently be renewed for another 10 years. The FCC may not place any conditions on the license except to prevent harmful interference, ensure the spectrum is used in accordance with a National Public Safety Communications Plan, or to enforce a provision of the spectrum bill or the 1934 Communications Act that governs use of the spectrum.

The Walden bill provides $3 billion to cover relocation costs of broadcasters and cable companies affected by repacking following voluntary incentive auctions. Auctions are only allowed to move forward if there’s still enough spectrum for broadcasters who want to remain broadcasters.

"Following nearly a year of hearings, meetings, and negotiations, I am disappointed that we could not develop a bipartisan bill,” Walden said. “But for the sake of the economy and public safety, we need to take the best ideas, which are represented in the JOBS Act, and move forward with a subcommittee vote on Thursday. No party, special interest, or lobby gets everything they want in this legislation. But for the American people, it delivers on three important goals for the country: job creation, a nationwide public safety network, and deficit reduction."

Committee Democrats “are still hoping for bipartisan action on this critical issue,” but “are laying out what we believe is the best path forward to resolve this problem,” said Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Communications Subcommittee Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., agreed she still hoped to find bipartisan consensus at Thursday’s markup.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., praised the Walden bill for reallocating the D-block and providing “significant funding” to build the network. “While this legislation tackles these important issues somewhat differently than my own bill … I look forward to working with both Chairman Walden and Chairman Upton in providing public safety officials access to sufficient spectrum and new technologies in order to perform their duties."

NAB said the Walden bill “represents a major step forward in ensuring that local television stations will continue to be able to serve our vast and diverse audiences with local news, entertainment, sports and emergency weather information.” Mobile Future and the Wireless Communications Association supported the release of the spectrum bills.

"The House bill’s reallocation of the D Block makes ultimate passage more likely,” said Potomac Research analyst Paul Glenchur. “It’s getting late to move final legislation this year but there’s always the chance the auction revenue assumptions could be handy to offset budget impacts of other legislation. But it could move next year.”