Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S146-149)
Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) ensure the deployment of a nationwide public safety interoperable broadband network in the 700 MHz band which is deployed in both rural and urban areas; (2) reallocate and integrate the 700 MHz D block spectrum for use by public safety entities; (3) permit flexible use of the narrowband spectrum; (4) ensure that the nationwide public safety broadband network is fully interoperable on a nationwide basis; and (5) establish a 10-year public safety advisory board.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to increase the electromagnetic spectrum allocation for public safety services by 10 megahertz.
Permits the FCC, if consistent with the public interest for a licensee to relinquish voluntarily some or all of its licensed spectrum usage rights in order to permit the assignment of new initial licenses, to disburse to that licensee portions of the auction proceeds related to the new use that are attributable to the licensee's relinquished spectrum usage.
Extends FCC auction authority until September 30, 2020.
Authorizes secondary use of the public safety spectrum, subject to specified limitations and conditions.
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 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a grant program to assist public safety entities establish a nationwide public safety interoperable broadband network in the 700 MHz band.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 25, 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 January 25, 2011: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S146-149)
- 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?
JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV) introduced it on January 25, 2011, and 15 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 15 Democrats.
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 25, 2011, 5707 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5707 days ago, on January 25, 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
- SenateIntroduced, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers