The ARRL sent out the minutes from the July 31 Board of Directors meeting this morning. As usual, legislative issues played a big part. The ARRL lobbyist, John Chwat reported that he believed that HR 607 is no longer a threat. HR 607 was a bill put forward by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, that would have re-assigned a portion of the 440 MHz band. The minutes note that, “The FCC study of impediments to Amateur Radio emergency communications was included in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 thanks to the support of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Upton and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Walden, among others.”
There was also a note about extending PRB-1 to private land use regulations. It says, “The study being prepared for Congress by the FCC is expected to conclude that the Commission will extend the limited preemption provisions of PRB-1 to private land use regulations only if directed by Congress to do so.” So, don’t look for that any time soon.
There were also several discussions of the pension plan for ARRL employees. They’re terminating the defined pension plan. No mention of what effect this will have on the employees or the financial health of the ARRL.
Finally, there was discussion of the ARRL centennial. The ARRL turns 100 in 2014. That’s not all that exciting to me. How about you?
Elwood Downey, WB0OEW says
The ARRL centennial is a major milestone in my view. What started as an effort to coordinate continental traffic handling adapted itself to changing times and has evolved to provide myriad services, ranging from ecomm, technical, contesting and PR to governmental representation and advocacy. Regarding the latter, perhaps most notably, ARRL is a vigilant and capable voice for Amateur Radio here and around the world defending the breadth and quality of our spectrum. Our spectrum is not a right; I wonder if there would be an amateur radio service at all without ARRL.
Elwood Downey, WB0OEW says
Just saw this note about BPL in Europe. Looks like an even bigger mess than here. I’m very glad ARRL is working this hard for us. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/06/rsgb_plt