Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act of 2020
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Don't Break Up the T-Band Act of 2020
This bill repeals a provision requiring the reallocation of spectrum currently used by public safety entities and otherwise addresses 9–1–1 fees and charges collected for the purpose of supporting 9–1–1 services.
Specifically, the bill repeals the requirement for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reallocate and auction the 470-512 MHz band (referred to as the T-Band spectrum ). The T-Band spectrum is a frequency range currently utilized by public safety entities in certain urban areas.
The bill also requires the FCC to issue rules designating acceptable purposes and functions for the obligation or expenditure of 9–1–1 fees or charges. Such purposes and functions shall be limited to the support and implementation of 9–1–1 services and the operational expenses of public safety answering points (i.e., the points where emergency calls are routed), but a state or taxing jurisdiction may petition the FCC for a determination that other purposes or functions should be treated as acceptable purposes or functions.
In addition, the bill establishes the Ending 9–1–1 Fee Diversion Now Strike Force, to which the FCC must submit any evidence it obtains that a state or taxing jurisdiction is diverting 9–1–1 fees or charges. The strike force must (1) study how the federal government can end such diversion through a determination of the effectiveness of laws and other constraints, (2) consider whether criminal penalties should be implemented to prevent further diversion, and (3) determine the impacts of such diversion.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on September 23, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 24, 2020: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
ELIOT ENGEL (D-NY) introduced it on January 10, 2019, and 24 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 21 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 10, 2019, 2800 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2177 days ago, on September 24, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers