Spectrum wasn’t included in the two-month payroll tax extension agreed...

consider authorizing spectrum auctions as a spending offset. “For those interested in spectrum legislation, the one significant difference between this agreement and the deal endorsed by the Senate last week is that it means the House and Senate are already in conference on an extension of the payroll tax through 2012,” said David Taylor, executive director of the Wireless Broadband Coalition. “In this conference, the House-passed version of HR 3630 is the only option containing the offsets needed to pay for what now amounts to a 10-month extension of the payroll tax and other expiring provisions. … Procedurally, the deal effectively limits the scope of the conference and increases the odds that spectrum legislation based largely on the [House Commerce Committee’s spectrum bill] will be incorporated into any conference agreement that emerges.” The conference will have until the end of February to reach a deal. Among the eight conferees announced earlier this week by the House: Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Also joining the conference are House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and four other House Democrats, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Friday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., chose four senators, but none come from Senate Commerce. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn’t name his conferees by our deadline. President Barack Obama Friday afternoon signed into law the payroll tax extension and the fiscal-year 2012 appropriations bill, including $340 million for the FCC.