Commerce Bid For Extra $7 Million To Run DTV Coupon Plan Could Stall

The Commerce Department may encounter difficulty winning permission from Congress to divert up to $7 million from a digital TV converter box subsidy program for administrative activities. House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) said Tuesday that he is "deeply disappointed" that the department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration proposed using money designated for converter box coupons for administrative costs. "Each dollar spent to make up for NTIA's shortfall is a dollar taken away from the funds set aside to provide coupons to households that need them," he said. House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) wants NTIA to give the committee a written plan detailing how much money can be used from other Commerce Department programs to make up for administrative shortfalls in the coupon program. "We're adjourning for the year next Friday so our time is of the essence," he said. NTIA may be faced with additional problems as the Feb. 17 digital transition date looms closer. Requests for converter box coupons are likely to escalate, and NTIA already is having difficulty meeting a requirement that coupons be issued 10 to 15 days after they are requested, according to a study released Tuesday from the Government Accountability Office.