House Passes FY 2018 Omnibus With Ray Baum's Act, Broadband Funding Attached
The Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986) and other tech and telecom policy provisions included in the $1.3 trillion FY 2018 omnibus spending bill (HR-1625) moved a step closer to enactment Thursday when the House passed the measure 256-167. House leaders released the bill's full text Wednesday evening after a deal between President Donald Trump and Capitol Hill leaders (see 1803210041 and 1803210068). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed cloture on the spending bill late Thursday, setting up a first vote around 1 a.m. Saturday, shortly after the current continuing resolution to fund the government is set to expire. McConnell and others remained concerned Thursday that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., might move to force a brief government shutdown, as he did in February (see 1802060054 and Notebook at the end of 1802090050).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The HR-4986 language included in the omnibus largely mirrors the House-passed version but now includes additional language from the Senate-passed Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless (Mobile Now) Act (S-19) spectrum bill to “streamline broadband infrastructure siting on federal lands and accelerate the availability of funds from the Spectrum Relocation Fund to clear spectrum sooner,” a Hill official emailed. The House-passed HR-4986 already contained a revised version of S-19 as part of a deal between the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 1803020027 and 1803060046).
Lawmakers also added language to the HR-4986 text that “clarified” wording included from the Viewer Protection Act (HR-3347) to authorize additional repack funding (see 1803080049), since the omnibus now officially allocates an additional $1 billion for the relocation process, the person said. The omnibus divides the repack funding over a two-year period, with $600 million available in FY 2018 and $400 million in FY 2019. Funding will be available until July 3, 2023. HR-4986 also includes language from the Spectrum Auction Deposits Act (HR-4109) that would let the FCC place bidders' deposits for future spectrum auctions in a Treasury Department fund. The revised HR-4986 text removed a provision requiring the FCC to concurrently submit to Congress any budget requests, legislative recommendations or other documents the agency sends to the White House or Office of Management and Budget, the official said.
During an American Cable Association event Thursday House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. lauded HR-4986's inclusion in the omnibus, saying the committee's work to advance the bill reflected bipartisan cooperation. “We get a lot of work done” at House Commerce, he said. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said during a Thursday hearing on other communications policy legislation that “we shocked the naysayers” by advancing HR-4986 “toward [President Donald Trump's] desk” (see 1803220055). An array of communications sector groups praised Hill leaders for including HR-4986 in the omnibus, including CTIA, CTA, NAB and the Telecommunications Industry Association.
The omnibus allocates $600 million in funding for a Rural Utilities Service-administered “Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program,” $465 million in federal funding for CPB and $7.5 million for NTIA to coordinate the federal government's broadband mapping activities. NCTA and NTCA lauded the funding for the RUS pilot. Also included is language from the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (HR-4943/S-2383). Privacy groups renewed their concerns about how the included HR-4943/S-2383 text would affect law enforcement's access to data (see 1803220057).