Broadcast License Renewal Act
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce.
Broadcast License Renewal Act - Requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish procedures to be followed by licensees of broadcasting stations to ascertain the needs and problems of their viewers. Sets the term of a broadcast station license or renewal license at five years. Provides that any license granted may upon its expiration be renewed, if the Commission finds that the public interest, convenience, and necessity would be served by the renewal of such license. Requires that in considering any application for renewal of a broadcast licnese the Commission shall not consider: (1) the ownership interests or official connections of the applicant in other stations or other communications media or other businesses; or (2) the participation of ownership in the management of the station for which such application has been filed, unless the Commission has adopted rules prohibiting such ownership interests or activities or prescribing management structures, as the case may be, and given the renewal applicant a reasonable opportunity to conform with such rules. Directs the Commission to prescribe procedures to encourage licensees of broadcasting stations and persons raising significant issues regarding the operation of such stations to conduct, during the term of the licenses for such stations, good faith negotiations to resolve such issues. Directs the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a study to determine how it might expedite the elimination of those regulations of broadcast licensees required by the Communications Act of 1934 which do not serve the public interest and to make annual reports of the results of such study (including any recommendations for legislation) to the Committee on Commerce of the Senate and the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives. Directs the Commission to complete, within a specified period of time, proceedings presently on the Federal Communications Commission Docket relating to multiple ownership of standard, FM, and television broadcast stations.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 13, 1974. 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 June 13, 1974: Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce.
- 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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
HUGH SCOTT (R-PA) introduced it on June 13, 1974, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 June 13, 1974, 19129 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19129 days ago, on June 13, 1974.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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