PLEASE SUPPORT US HOUSE BILL HR-1301!

 

What is US House Bill HR-1301?

 

It is the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 identified as H.R.1301. This bill
has been introduced in the US House of Representatives, and directs the FCC
to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service
communications to private land use restrictions. US Rep Adam Kinzinger
(R-IL) introduced the bill on March 4 with 12 original co-sponsors from both
sides of the aisle -- seven Republicans and five Democrats. 

 

If Congress approves the legislation, and it is signed by the president,
H.R. 1301 would require the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules
to apply the three-part test of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy to
include homeowners' association regulations and deed restrictions, often
referred to as "covenants, conditions, and restrictions" (CC&Rs). At
present, PRB-1 only applies to state and local zoning laws and ordinances.
The FCC has been reluctant to extend the same legal protections to include
such private land-use agreements without direction from Congress; thus, the
dire need for passage of this vital legislation. 

 

Presently, H.R. 1301 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce
Committee. A fellow ham, Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI, Republican from Oregon,
chairs that panel's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which will
consider the measure. 

 

We are a fraternity of radio Amateurs (hams) who provide, on a volunteer
basis, public service, emergency, and disaster relief communications using
radio stations located in our residences. Our services cost taxpayers
nothing. They are provided at no cost to any served agency or to any
government entity. FEMA has stated that when Amateur Radio operators are
needed in an emergency or disaster, they are really needed and are often the
only source of reliable communications.  

 

In such situations, FCC licensed radio amateurs serve agencies such as the
American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and the Department of Defense. Radio amateurs engage in disaster
relief planning exercises and emergency communications certification courses
to guarantee the emergency availability of a cadre of trained radio
operators throughout the United States.

 

Land use restrictions that prohibit the installation of outdoor antenna
systems are the largest threat to Amateur Radio emergency and public service
communications. They are escalating quickly and exponentially. An outdoor
antenna is critical to the effectiveness of an Amateur Radio station. Too
often in recent years, Amateur Radio antennas have been expressly prohibited
in residential areas by private land use regulations. 

 

What Will HR 1301 Do and Not Do?

 

Most importantly, it will ensure that every ham in the US, regardless of the
community they live in, will have the opportunity to practice their
avocation from their own homes without breaking any rules or fear of
reprisal

If enacted it would direct the FCC to extend the reasonable accommodation
protections to those amateurs who are living in deed-restricted communities.
Known as "CC&Rs" (covenants, conditions and restrictions) these are the
prohibitions and limitations placed on properties by builders or home-owner
associations (HOAs) which prevent licensed Amateurs from erecting even
modest antennas. 

 

The Amateur Radio Parity Act would not give Amateurs "carte blanche" to do
whatever they wished. It would require HOAs and other private land use
regulations to extend reasonable accommodation to Amateurs wishing to erect
antennas. 

 

House Members Currently Supporting HR-1301 

 

Adam Kinzinger from Illinois (the sponsor of HR 1301)

Joe Courtney (CT - co-sponsor)  

Jeff Fortenberry (NE - co-sponsor)

Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ - co-sponsor)

Morgan H. Griffith (VA - co-sponsor)

Steve Israel (NY - co-sponsor)

  Lynn Jenkins (KS - co-sponsor)

Peter T. King (NY - co-sponsor)

  Grace F. Napolitano (CA - co-sponsor)

David E. Price (NC - co-sponsor)

Paul Tonko (NY - co-sponsor)

Tim Walberg (MI - co-sponsor)

Steve Womack (AR - co-sponsor)




 

Your Immediate Action is Needed!

 

You are urged to contact your Representative to the US House of
Representatives and ask him to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. All you
need to do is to identify yourself, and tell the aid that answers the phone
that you are calling to urge him/her to become a co-sponsor to the Amateur
Radio Parity Act of 2015, otherwise titled HR-1301. When I called, I also
delineated the point that federally licensed radio amateurs are often a
vital means of communications in emergency situations, and this act would
allow radio amateurs to erect reasonable antennas in otherwise restricted
areas By requiring the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules to
include homeowners' association regulations and deed restrictions. At
present, PRB-1 only applies to state and local zoning laws and ordinances. 

  

It will only take you a few minutes to make this extremely important call.
To find your Representative's contact information, simply go to this website
and go down the page until you come to where you can type in your zip code,
and your Representative's name will come up and you can click on his/her
name to go to their website to find his/her phone number. Sometimes you can
just click on a contact form and fill it out:  

 

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

 

Even if you, personally, are not directly affected by such antenna
restrictions, I urge you to make this call to help and support those
thousands of other radio amateurs who are prohibited from erecting outside
antennas where they live; besides, just because it might not affect you
today, doesn't mean it might not sometime in the future. 

 

Ron Milliman, K8HSY

 

 

Dr. Ronald E. Milliman

Retired Professor of Marketing

 

President: Millitronics, Inc. (millitronics.biz)

President: A3 Business Solutions (a3businesssolutions.com)

President: M&M Properties

President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB.ORG)