Spectrum auctions might be included in GOP's payroll-tax bill

Republicans are considering including Rep. Greg Walden's (R-Ore.) spectrum bill in a proposal to extend the payroll tax holiday, Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office confirmed on Wednesday.

The spectrum legislation, which could raise as much as $15 billion through government auctions of airwaves, could help offset the cost of extending a payroll tax holiday and federal unemployment benefits. 

Republicans have insisted that the payroll tax deal not increase the deficit.

 Walden’s spectrum bill authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum that currently belongs to television broadcasters, splitting some of the revenue with the stations that choose to participate.

The spectrum is potentially worth billions of dollars to wireless carriers, which are struggling to meet the growing data demands of smartphones and tablet computers.

In a concession to Democrats, the bill also allocates the D block of spectrum to create a nationwide public-safety network. The network would allow first-responders to communicate using video and other data during emergencies and would help officials from different agencies communicate with each other.

Auctioning spectrum has become a hot issue on Capitol Hill in recent months.

The Senate version of the spectrum bill, S. 911, cleared the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in June but has not come up for a vote in the full Senate. There was speculation that the deficit-reduction supercommittee would include spectrum language in a possible deal before those talks collapsed. And President Obama included spectrum provisions in his jobs bill, though Congress has not acted on them. 

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