Capitol Hill spectrum talks resumed outside of the House-Senate conference...
Capitol Hill spectrum talks resumed outside of the House-Senate conference on the payroll tax cut extension, Hill and telecom industry lobbyists told us Monday. But there has been little progress toward agreement, multiple lobbyists said. House and Senate Commerce committee…
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staff met over the weekend since Senate Commerce lacks representatives (CD Feb 1 p3) on the conference committee, a House GOP aide said. The staffs also met early last week, a telecom industry lobbyist said. The talks included the staffs of House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.; full committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said three telecom industry lobbyists. Congressional leadership also participated, they said. Staff for Senate Commerce Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, have not been directly involved, they said. The telecom industry lobbyists said they haven’t detected consensus on the three main areas of disagreement: governance of the public safety network, unlicensed spectrum, and auction eligibility requirements. “Not much progress” has been made, one lobbyist said. Meanwhile, the larger conference committee plans to continue negotiations on the broader bill Tuesday at 10 a.m. The conference is considering spectrum as a “pay-for” provision in the payroll tax bill that’s due by month’s end. It doesn’t look nearly as complicated to resolve the lingering disagreements on spectrum compared to the political conflicts that would likely arise if Congress sought to tap a different pay-for, a telecom industry lobbyist said.