Wednesday, February 23, 2011

ARRL Board Adopts Legislative Agenda


The ARRL Board of Directors has set forth seven legislative priorities for the 112th Congress. According to the ARRL Letter, these include:
- Including private land use regulations (such as CC&Rs) in the rule that currently requires local and state governments to "reasonably accommodate" amateur radio operation;
- Opposing reallocation of amateur radio spectrum;
- Opposing laws that would favor unlicensed users over licensed users in shared spectrum;
- Seeking to have amateur radio's unique capabilities included in any legislation relating to emergency and disaster communications;
- Supporting other licensed services that need protection from interference for non-commercial purposes that benefit the public;
- Opposing distracted driving laws that do not exempt two-way radios operated by FCC-licensees, and
- Supporting the FCC Commissioners' Technical Resource Enhancement Act.
The board also set up an ad-hoc committee to monitor development of the National Broadband Plan and assess possible threats to amateur frequencies.