07/13/2016
An amended version[1] of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301[2], received a
unanimous favorable report on June 13 from members of the U.S. House Energy and
Commerce Committee. The bill now will go to the full House for consideration.
Before reporting the bill out of committee, the panel first voted to accept the
amended language "in the nature of a substitute." Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI
(R-OR), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on
Communications and Technology, said the substitute bill represented "a good
balance" following months of meeting, hard work, and compromise, and he
recommended the measure to his colleagues.
"The amendment guarantees that even in deed-restricted communities, Amateur
Radio operators are able to use an effective outdoor antenna," Walden said.
"Without an effective antenna Amateur Radio operators are severely limited, so
this amendment ensures that amateurs are free to pursue their passion wherever
they live."
At the same time, he continued, the measure protects the rights of those "who
have chosen to live in deed-restricted communities and to set their own
aesthetic and other rules."
In early June, the ARRL and the Community Associations Institute (CAI[3]) - the
national association of homeowners associations (HOAs) - announced that they
had reached consensus on substitute language for H.R. 1301 in an effort to move
it through committee and to overcome objections to the companion US Senate
bill, S. 1685[4]. The offices of US Representatives Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the
bill's sponsor, Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Walden mediated and offered assistance.
"While it's rare to have two groups with opposing viewpoints walk away from
legislation happy, by golly, I think we've done it here," Walden concluded. He
said the nature of the substitute represented "the best of what our committee
can do when we work together in bipartisan compromise that meets the needs of
all parties involved."
In her remarks, Eshoo said she was glad that an agreement was reached on the
language of the bill, which she initially feared would violate the rights of
homeowners associations. "We found a balance that works for all stakeholders,"
she said. She called ARRL and CAI "the bookends of the effort."
Kinzinger called the amended bill "a good amendment that strikes the right
balance."
[1] http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/ParityAct-SubstituteBill-Official-
2016.pdf
[2] https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1301/text
[3] https://www.caionline.org/
[4] https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1685/text
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