GOP includes spectrum auctions, network neutrality restriction in payroll tax bill

The House Republican bill to extend the payroll tax holiday, unveiled on Dec 9, includes Rep. Greg Walden's (R-OR) spectrum bill and a controversial anti-network neutrality provision that Democrats have called "poison." Walden's spectrum legislation, which could raise as much as $15 billion through government auctions of airwaves, helps to offset the cost of the omnibus spending package.

Although Democrats support the broad outline of the spectrum language, they are adamantly opposed to the amendment from Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would restrict the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ability to impose network neutrality conditions on wireless companies that purchase spectrum leases at auction. Walden’s spectrum bill, the Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum (JOBS) Act, authorizes the FCC to auction spectrum that currently belongs to television broadcasters, splitting some of the revenue (up to $3 billion) with the stations that choose to participate. The incentive auction language gives the FCC authority to compensate broadcasters for reclaiming spectrum, but only allows that spectrum to be auctioned if "there is sufficient spectrum to accommodate the broadcasters that wish to remain broadcasters following the auction.”
The Senate version of the spectrum bill, S. 911, cleared the Commerce Committee in June but has not come up for a vote in the full Senate.