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ARLB088 License fees rejected
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ARRL Bulletin 88  ARLB088
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  August 10, 1993
To all radio amateurs

License fees rejected

Several items of interest to radio amateurs are related to the
just-passed Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (H.R. 2264), items
shepherded through Washington by the ARRL's capitol team.

One draft version of the bill would have imposed an annual
regulatory fee on every licensed ham in the U.S. Through efforts by
the League's Washington representatives, the Act, minus the fee
for Amateurs, was reported out of the Budget Reconciliation
Conference Committee and passed by the House and Senate late last
week.

In addition, the League also convinced the committee to accept
provisions in the Emerging Telecommunications Technology Act
requiring the "input" of Amateurs in future reallocation of radio
spectrum that might affect Amateurs.

ARRL President George Wilson, III, W4OYI said that "The regulatory
fee issue alone is a big victory, since it would have been an
administrative nightmare and would have cost radio amateurs millions
of dollars a year. But most important, at a time when ham radio is
enjoying a resurgence among young people, a fee might have been a
roadblock to that first license."

Amateurs also moved a step closer to being able to obtain specific
call signs. The budget bill includes an ARRL-endorsed provision for
the FCC to charge a special processing fee for "Amateur vanity call
signs."

The conference also accepted, as proposed, language in the Senate's
Emerging Telecommunications Technology Act requiring the Secretary
of Commerce to seek to avoid excessive disruption of existing use of
shared Federal/Amateur Radio frequencies.

Wilson credits the success to the efforts of hams in key legislative
districts who wrote and called their Congressional delegations.
/EX