The US House of Representatives will have at least two proposals related to Amateur Radio to review in the 2023-2024 session. The bills introduced focus on improving antenna restrictions and HF digital operations.
Congressman Bill Johnson of Ohio sponsors HR-9670, the “Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act.” The bill attempts to take on private land use restrictions and covenants. The bill’s intro reads, “…amateur stations have been shown to be frequently and increasingly precluded” by these unreasonable rules.
Changes included in HR-9670 include allowing antennas shorter than 1 meter, antennas part of a flagpole, and wire antennas. You can read the entire HR-9670 bill at the ARRL website, and track progress on congress.gov.
Arizona Congressperson Debbie Lesko sponsors HR-9664, focused on digital symbol rates for HF. Rep. Lesko says it is to “eliminate the current Symbol Rate Limit set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and replace it with a 2.8 kilohertz (kHz) bandwidth limit. The bill brings regulations up to speed with modern technology advances in amateur radio.”
If you support these changes, consider letting your congressional representative know. You can find contact information at https://www.congress.gov/members.
