RAY BAUM'S Act of 2018
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 or the RAY BAUM'S Act of 2018
TITLE I--FCC REAUTHORIZATION
(Sec. 101) This bill reauthorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for FY2019-FY2020. It amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that FCC-collected regulatory fees be credited as offsetting collections.
The Department of the Treasury must accept bidding deposits for spectrum auctions held by the FCC; the deposits of successful bidders must be used for deficit reduction.
(Sec. 102) Application fees must be assessed at rates to recover costs associated with processing applications; regulatory fees must be assessed to recover the costs of employee pay, other employee benefits, and nondiscretionary costs. Congress must be given notice of adjustments to applications and regulatory fees, but such adjustments are not subject to judicial review. The FCC must assess specified late fees and charge interest on certain fees that are not paid in a timely manner. The FCC may dismiss an application or revoke an instrument of authority held by a licensee for failure to pay fees and penalties in a timely manner.
TITLE II--APPLICATION OF ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT
(Sec. 201) The Universal Service Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act is amended to extend through December 31, 2019, the waiver of certain limitations on: (1) expending, obligating, or apportioning appropriations with respect to federal universal service contributions collected or received under the Communications Act of 1934; and (2) expending or obligating funds attributable to such contributions for universal service support programs.
TITLE III--SECURING ACCESS TO NETWORKS IN DISASTERS
(Sec. 301) The FCC must submit to Congress and publish on the FCC website a study on the public safety benefits, technical feasibility, and cost of providing the public with access to 9-1-1 services during times of emergency when mobile service is unavailable, through:
telecommunications service provider-owned WiFi access points and other communications technologies operating on unlicensed spectrum, without requiring any login credentials;
non-telecommunications service provider-owned WiFi access points; and
The summary continues for 49 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on March 6, 2018. 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 March 7, 2018: 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced it on February 8, 2018, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 February 8, 2018, 3136 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3109 days ago, on March 7, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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