House panel approves FCC reauthorization

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a bill reauthorizing funding for the Federal Communications Commission.

The bill would allocate funds to television and radio broadcasters affected by the FCC’s incentive auction, which repurposes broadcast airwaves for wireless providers. It would also implement a number of process reforms aimed at making the agency run more efficiently.

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“By making sure we properly relocate broadcasters displaced in the incentive auction, we add further legitimacy to future spectrum actions and other improvements in communications policy,” Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who chairs the committee, said in a markup hearing Wednesday.

The Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act, or the Ray Baum Act, was named for the Energy and Commerce Committee staff director who died of cancer on Friday.

It now heads to the House floor for a full vote.