WASHINGTON-Congressional GOP and White House budget negotiators reached an agreement on auctioning radio spectrum through the year 2002 as part of renewed talks aimed at producing a compromise on a seven-year balanced budget plan and ending the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history by as early as this week.
But the prospects for success are uncertain.
“The minute we have a budget agreement we should be able to get something through the House within hours that would take care of all the current problems,” said Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., speaker of the House.
But, he added, “The key is we have go back to the White House and we have to have an agreement so when members come back from home they have something to look at. I don’t think members are going to come back and say, `Well, glad you guys had nice meetings.’*”
The House is scheduled to begin voting on Wednesday.
Meetings between congressional and administration staffs were held last Wednesday and Thursday, setting the stage for President Clinton to meet Friday and possibly through the weekend with Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.), Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.).
It was not clear what deal was worked out on spectrum auctions because it is tied to a $40 billion package of savings including other components.
The GOP seven-year balanced budget plan that Clinton vetoed last month would have the Federal Communications Commission raise $15.3 billion over the next seven years by expanding auction authority. Public safety and broadcasting frequencies would be exempt from competitive bidding under that plan.
Despite being closed down since Dec. 18, the FCC continued to sell 900 MHz specialized mobile radio, personal communications services and wireless cable licenses, except for a brief holiday hiatus from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4.
Clinton’s latest budget proposal would erase the federal deficit by 2002, in part by generating $28.3 billion from the sale of wireless licenses, including analog television channels. Congress backed down last fall from a proposal by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) to sell digital TV channels, an initiative supported by the wireless telecommunications industry.
The telecommunications reform bill straining toward passage would let a broadcaster use excess capacity on a free digital TV channel to offer paging and other ancillary services, but they would have to pay a market-based price for spectrum dedicated to secondary offerings.
