Rockefeller: Spectrum bill is the top priority for Senate Commerce

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Wednesday that his wireless bill is the "highest legislative priority for this committee." 

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), the panel's ranking member, has also drafted a wireless bill, as The Hill reported last month. She said Wednesday she would like to combine her efforts with Rockefeller's.

Hutchison's bill mirrors many of the proposals in Rockefeller's. It would give authority to the FCC to move forward with incentive auctions so broadcasters can voluntarily sell their holdings. 

In Hutchison's bill, that money would go to deficit reduction (it expects to yield "tens of billions of dollars" for that purpose, Hutchison says), building a public safety network (it would devote $20 billion), and compensating the broadcasters.  Hutchison's draft would extend the FCC's auction authority to 2018.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) expressed some concerns about the centerpiece of their proposals, which would allocate a valuable chunk of spectrum to public safety.

Reallocation opponents say the disputed spectrum should instead be auctioned off to raise funds to build the public safety network. 

Warner estimated the cost of that proposal at up to $40 billion, which is well above the other estimates that have put the network at around $15 billion. Warner has expressed the same concerns in the past. 

"If we are going to do D Block allocation, how are we going to make sure — in the days when you will see us constantly cutting — that we can find the capital … to make sure we build out the network?" he said. 

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said he supports Rockefeller's bill, and that he wants to make sure the needs of border states will be met. 

"What's going down on the border right now are things like drug smuggling and human trafficking," he said. "How do we work the border into this situation?"

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) focused on broadcasters and the mechanism of incentive auctions.