Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to increase the electromagnetic spectrum allocation for public safety services by 10 megahertz and reduce such allocation for commercial use by the same amount.
Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) allocate the paired electromagnetic spectrum bands of 758-763 megahertz and 788-793 megahertz (referred to as D Block) for public safety broadband communications and license such paired bands to public safety; (2) establish rules to permit a public safety broadband licensee to authorize public safety service providers to construct and operate a wireless public safety broadband network in the public safety broadband spectrum; (3) require the wireless public safety broadband network to be fully interoperable, provide for user roaming and priority access to public safety entities, be disaster survivable, have appropriate cyber security, and enable authorized users to develop local networks; (4) authorize the shared use, sublicensing, or leasing of the public safety broadband spectrum and network infrastructure by entities that are not defined as public safety services; (5) allow use of the public safety broadband spectrum by emergency response providers; and (6) establish rules enabling nationwide wireless public safety broadband network interoperability and roaming across any commercial network.
Requires each state to submit a plan to the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FCC detailing the terms and aspects of the phased deployment for wireless public safety broadband network to be constructed in the public safety broadband spectrum.
Specifies organizations that shall be included in the Board of Directors of the Public Safety Broadband Licensee.
Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Public Safety Interoperable Broadband Network Construction Fund, and (2) the Public Safety Interoperable Broadband Network Maintenance and Operation Fund.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) establish a grant program to assist states, municipalities, and Indian tribes to establish a nationwide public safety interoperable broadband network in the 700 megahertz band, and (2) administer a program through which not more than 50% of maintenance and operational expenses associated with the public safety interoperable broadband network may be reimbursed from the Maintenance and Operation Fund.
The summary continues for 5 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 "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 19, 2011. 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 May 19, 2011: 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 Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I-CT) introduced it on May 19, 2011, 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 May 19, 2011, 5593 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5593 days ago, on May 19, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers