Post by jag11 on Jan 28, 2009 14:02:43 GMT -5
The House of Representatives today rejected an attempt to immediately pass legislation delaying the digital TV transition, likely putting off a final House vote on the DTV delay until next week.
While the stall robs the Obama administration of some momentum in its effort to delay the switch from Feb. 17 to June 12, the House still can push through a delay.
The House today voted 258 to 168 to suspend its rules and pass the legislation, but that margin fell short of the two-thirds needed to act immediately. House leaders could put the same legislation on the House calendar next week in the regular order of business and avoid the need for a two-thirds vote. Democratic leaders had hoped to act expeditiously on DTV today.
The House is acting on Senate legislation that pushes the transition date to June 12 from Feb. 17.
A spokesman for Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House leadership is “reviewing its options” about how to proceed. An announcement could come later today.
While the 258-168 vote wasn’t enough to suspend rules—287 votes would be needed for that—it did indicate strong support for the delay. Before voting, the House added some last-minute technical amendments to the legislation, which means the Senate will have to act again after a House vote.
Republicans have opposed a delay in the DTV transition, arguing that a relatively small percentage of households aren’t ready and that many may just be waiting until the last minute, a problem that would happen no matter what date was chosen.
They’ve acknowledged that government’s coupon program for DTV converter boxes is broke—more than 2.6 million coupon requests are on a waiting list—but argued the answer is to fix the coupon program, not delay the transition.
While the stall robs the Obama administration of some momentum in its effort to delay the switch from Feb. 17 to June 12, the House still can push through a delay.
The House today voted 258 to 168 to suspend its rules and pass the legislation, but that margin fell short of the two-thirds needed to act immediately. House leaders could put the same legislation on the House calendar next week in the regular order of business and avoid the need for a two-thirds vote. Democratic leaders had hoped to act expeditiously on DTV today.
The House is acting on Senate legislation that pushes the transition date to June 12 from Feb. 17.
A spokesman for Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House leadership is “reviewing its options” about how to proceed. An announcement could come later today.
While the 258-168 vote wasn’t enough to suspend rules—287 votes would be needed for that—it did indicate strong support for the delay. Before voting, the House added some last-minute technical amendments to the legislation, which means the Senate will have to act again after a House vote.
Republicans have opposed a delay in the DTV transition, arguing that a relatively small percentage of households aren’t ready and that many may just be waiting until the last minute, a problem that would happen no matter what date was chosen.
They’ve acknowledged that government’s coupon program for DTV converter boxes is broke—more than 2.6 million coupon requests are on a waiting list—but argued the answer is to fix the coupon program, not delay the transition.