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Washington, DC – Today, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on bipartisan legislation Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) has introduced with Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA).

As co-chairs of the Congressional Spectrum Caucus, Congressman Guthrie and Congresswoman Matsui reintroduced H.R. 1641, the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2015, in March.  H.R. 1641 provides financial incentives to encourage government agencies to relocate from the spectrum bands they are currently occupying in order to free up additional spectrum for commercial use and encourage innovation.  Federal agencies are already entitled to relocation costs when their spectrum is auctioned, but this would be the first time agencies would receive a percentage of the funds generated by the sale. They could use the funds to pay for any agency priorities that were affected by sequestration.

“Not a day goes by when Americans don’t use spectrum,” said Congressman Guthrie.  “Whether starting your day browsing news articles on your smartphone or posting a photo or status update to social media, everyone relies on this finite resource to connect their wireless devices.  That is especially true for our first responders and the critical, time-sensitive work they do, along with the high tech equipment used in manufacturing or telehealth applications that increase access to care.  We need to keep working on ways to bring more spectrum to market.”