The House Energy & Commerce Committee is looking to advance more than half a dozen communications/tech-related bills.
Importantly, that includes the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act of 2022, which extends the FCC's authority to auction spectrum to March 21, 2024. That authority expires September 30 of this year unless it is reauthorized.
Also on the docket for a June 15 markup in the committee's Communications Subcommittee are 1) the Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for SNAP Recipients Act of 2021; 2) the ITS Codification Act; 3) Preventing Disruptions to Universal Service Funds Act; 4) the SMART Act; 5) the Safe Connections Act of 2022; and 6) the Spectrum Innovation Act of 2022.
A markup is an executive session in which bills are amended, if necessary, then referred to the full committee for a vote if a majority votes to do so.
The bills together will "strengthen our communications networks, help keep people safe in times of emergency and distress, and promote innovation,” said House Energy & Commerce chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)and Communications Subcommittee chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.). ■
