‘Gang of Six’ Plan Could Mean Commerce Committees Will Need Spectrum Auction Funds
Spectrum auctions could be a major part of Commerce committees’ savings plans to meet goals set by a deficit reduction plan released Tuesday by the bipartisan “Gang of Six” senators. The proposal, endorsed Tuesday by President Barack Obama, would direct the committees to find $11 billion for deficit reduction within six months, according to an executive summary of the plan. The proposal set up a two-step legislative process, in which there would be immediate cuts totaling $500 billion, followed by a process in which Commerce and other congressional committees would find further savings.
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If tasked with finding deficit reductions, House and Senate Commerce committees are expected to look at spectrum auctions because they raise significant revenue for the U.S. Treasury (CD June 29 p4). The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the president’s spectrum proposals -- which include voluntary incentive auctions -- would generate $24.5 billion in auction proceeds over 10 years. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has estimated that his public safety spectrum bill (S-911) would provide $10 billion for deficit reduction, and he’s proposed including it in a budget deal. The CBO hasn’t yet released an official score of S-911.
Not everyone thinks S-911 would create enough revenue. The Rockefeller bill “gives away too much spectrum,” Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told us. “If we want revenue, we need to sell it to a private company.” DeMint was one of four Republicans who in committee markup voted against S-911. Republicans on the House Commerce Committee released a draft spectrum bill last week that would auction the 700 MHz D-block to public safety rather than give it away as proposed by Rockefeller.
The Rockefeller bill has support from Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Lieberman told us. Lieberman and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have their own public safety bill (S-1040) that, like S-911, proposes reallocating the D-block. The senators “wanted to make sure that the public safety agencies benefited” from spectrum auctions “because to me it’s a critical, national homeland security need,” Lieberman said. “I thought the Rockefeller bill in the Commerce Committee moved in the right direction."
The Gang of Six includes Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a Senate Commerce Committee member and co-founder of Nextel. Other members are Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.