Originally published 4th Quarter 2004
Following a contentious and often gridlocked session, three pieces of key telecommunications legislation were sent to the President only moments before the Senate adjourned the 108th Congress sine di on December 8.
The "minibus" telecommunications package (H.R. 5419) passed by Congress includes: (i) the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004; (ii) the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act; and (iii) the Universal Service Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act. The House approved H.R. 5419 on November 20, 2004, by unanimous consent, but the bill stalled in the Senate over a separate dispute involving boxing oversight legislation favored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and because Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) expressed concern about the unique budget authority granted to executive agencies by the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act. After hours of "last minute" negotiations, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent paving the way for the President’s signature on December 23.
The ENHANCE 911 Act authorizes the creation of a National 911 Program Office for the purpose of providing technical and financial support to the nation’s local emergency call centers. The main focus of the National 911 office will be to administer an annual $250 million grant program authorized by the Act. In addition, the law directs the Government Accountability Office to produce a report analyzing how state and local jurisdictions are using taxes and fees that they present to consumers as being collected for the purpose of supporting emergency services. The report must be delivered to Congress within 20 months.
Under the provisions of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, auction receipts associated with the sale of spectrum reallocated to commercial users in the 216-220 MHz band, the 1432-1435 MHz band, the 1710-1755 MHz band, the 2385-2390 MHz band and certain other bands reallocated from Federal use to non-Federal use after January 1, 2003 will be paid into a central spectrum relocation fund and federal agencies will be paid for relocation costs out of the fund. To expedite the clearing of the auctioned spectrum, the legislation provides agencies mandatory spending authority to cover relocation expenses. Among other things, the legislation streamlines the spectrum management process by creating a concrete migration plan, identifies costs and clear rights for both parties, and creates specific timelines to expedite the relocation.
The Universal Service Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act exempts the Universal Service System from the Antideficiency Act until December 31, 2005. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from incurring "obligations" in excess of cash on-hand or investments in federal securities. In August, the Federal Communications Commission concluded that the E-rate and Rural Health components of the Universal Service System were subject to the Antideficiency Act and placed a freeze on new funding commitment letters for the two programs until the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) could accrue additional cash reserves to comply with the law. The change also forced USAC to liquidate $3 billion in safe government-backed investments, immediately costing the E-rate program $4.6 million. The one year moratorium grants Congress time to identify a long-term solution to the unintended consequences of applying the Antideficency Act to these programs and allows USAC to resume sending funding commitment letters to schools, libraries and rural health centers.
Passage of these initiatives clears the way for the Senate and House to address other pressing telecommunications issues, such as Universal Service reform and intercarrier compensation, when Congress convenes the 109th Congress on January 4, 2005.
The content of this article does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on in that way. Specific advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.