Stearns, House Judiciary Majority Favor Five-Year DBS Reauthorization
The long awaited satellite TV reauthorization remains stuck in the House due mainly to a Congressional Budget Office bill-scoring issue. The license allowing satellite TV companies to import distant signals is to expire at the end of the month. Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., of the House Communications Subcommittee told us in a written statement Tuesday that “the bill is held up due to a copyright provision and it is not clear when the bill will proceed."
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"We are presently discussing options for reauthorization,” said Stearns. The Senate has passed two versions of the reauthorization (CD March 29 p4). One, included in a jobs bill (HR-4213) by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., would have the licenses expire in five years; a second stand-alone DBS reauthorization (S-3191) would have them expire in ten years. Stearns backs the five-year extension in the House bill, he said.
The ranking member isn’t alone. The House Judiciary Committee majority strongly favors a five-year extension, given the digital transition and the fast pace of technological change, said a House Judiciary aide. Other Hill staffers noted that a five-year extension is preferable from a policy standpoint, since the shorter time frame would allow policymakers to make further tweaks to the satellite TV law sooner.
But passing a five-year reauthorization has been difficult due to a CBO “scoring” issue involving copyright royalty payments. Passing the five-year approach also depends on the House approving several other items in the jobs bill unrelated to satellite TV. Doing a 10-year reauthorization instead is said to solve the accounting issue and reduces the CBO estimate of the long-term deficit by close to $300 million compared to the five-year bill.