S. 28 (112th): Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act

Introduced:
Jan 25, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. John “Jay” Rockefeller IV [D-WV]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:

H.R. 2482 (same title)
Referred to Committee — Jul 11, 2011

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.


1/25/2011--Introduced.
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.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.


No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)