Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301 Dies

[Pete, WA2CWA]

From the ARRL web site, dated 12/9/16:
The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, died an unbefitting death as the 114th Congress of the United States drew to a close today. After having passed the House of Representatives on a unanimous vote, the bill stalled in the Senate due to the intervention of only one member, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)...

More information here: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-vows-continued-pursuit-of-the-amateur-radio-parity-act-in-the-115th-congress

[KD6VXI]

From.the link "We believe that we can get his bill adopted given the fact that we were inches away from crossing the goal line."

I highly doubt it.   With our president elect being in he real estate business I can't really see any support for loosening any type of restrictions.

I hope I'm wrong,  for the sake of those in HOA environments.   But I just can't see it.

Follow the money trail,  find out who donated to the lone holdout and go from there.

--Shane
KD6VXI

[K4RT]

The HOA associations and property development corporations have very strong lobbies in Washington, D.C. and every state capital.  Strong lobbies have considerable influence - perhaps too much influence -  on Capitol Hill.

Having owned a home subject to restrictive covenants that did not allow ham antennas and which were enforced by an HOA, I think the bill was a nice idea for amateur radio. But I doubt that the ARRL's grassroots efforts will ever carry the day.  Even if such a bill is passed by Congress and signed by a President, it would likely be tied up in litigation from the start.  That would leave the ARRL to defend protracted and expensive litigation and fund appeals in the federal courts with who knows what chances of success. As an ARRL member I think the effort was one the League can be proud of.   But it's time now to commend ham operators for a good fight and move on.

[W3RSW]

Ol' Bill Nelson probably saw squiggly lines on his TV one day, just like his nibby neighbor said he would after a little envelope passed hands.

"Time to drain the swamp."

[W6TOM]

  The best government "money can buy".

[Pete, WA2CWA]

It's obvious the ARRL is not giving up on this: "The legislation will be reintroduced in both houses of Congress after the 115th Session begins in January. We have already been in contact with the sponsors of the bill to allow for an early introduction, which will give us more time to obtain success. We believe that we can get his bill adopted given the fact that we were inches away from crossing the goal line."

[WA2SQQ]

My son keeps trying to get me to retire or at least buy property in FL. I told him - no thanks! No antenna rights, no way! So much of FL is HOA's - when I retire I want to be able to enjoy the things I like doing.

[K9PNP]

Ol' Bill Nelson probably saw squiggly lines on his TV one day, just like his nibby neighbor said he would after a little envelope passed hands.

"Time to drain the swamp."

Yes it is!!  I'm "semi-retired" and decided to stay where we are.  Small town, antennas already up, no HOA problems.  Besides, I can't carry some of the boat anchors upstairs out of the basement any more.

Only issue I have had in the last 40 years is a TVI complaint which ended up being a 500 W 11 M "linear" from a few blocks away.  After I told the guy complaining that he should patent his TV since it copies CW and transfers it to voice, he figured out what was going on.  Luckily, he was an old Korean War Navy radio operator so I had a chance going in.  Never did convince him to get his ticket, though.

[W1ITT]

I have served as chairman of the Planning Board in my town for a quarter century, and have learned a bit about HOAs.  Most subdivisions are required to establish a HOA for the purpose of maintaining common features that are not owned by the municipality.  Sadly, most contractor/subdividers don't know much about how to write a legal HOA document so they either buy a cookbook document, or engage a lawyer who generally provides a fairly standard boilerplate HOA.
Besides limiting the keeping of farm animals in yuppy neighborhoods, limiting the number of yachts one can store in the side yard, and regulating how long one can keep the garage door open (yes, I have seen this, but not in my town), as a matter of completeness they also limit or forbid radio antennas.  And the reason is that most every other HOA document does the same.  There is little local thought put into the matter, and most of the HOAs are just rubber stamped.
One of the ways for radio amateurs to get involved is to get into the local planning process, preferably as a member.  I have strongly suggested to subdividers that they edit their HOA document to eliminate limits on licensed radio amateurs.  If you get in ahead of time, the solution can be fairly simple.
Of course, existing HOAs become a private matter among the residents of the Association and many of them are controlled by something resembling the Stepford Wives.  Talking much sense into them may well be futile.
Our Planning Board members are all long term volunteers, unpaid, but I think we make more sense most weeks than some of the high dollar politicians.  You can't rewrite the past but, by getting involved at the local level, you can have a hand in shaping the future.