Subj : Other Ham Radio News
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Dec 20 2018 01:13 pm
From the ARRL website, Dec. 19, 2018:
The FCC has released its Plan for Orderly Shutdown in case funds become
unavailable to continue operation.
"If a potential lapse in appropriations is imminent, the FCC will
determine whether, and for how long, prior-year funds are available
to continue agency operations during a lapse," the FCC said in its
plan.
According to the plan, if prior-year funds are available, the FCC
will remain open beyond a lapse. If prior-year funds are unavailable,
or exhausted during the lapse in appropriations, the FCC will commence
a shutdown.
ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said in such situations, the FCC
website goes offline, which includes the Universal Licensing System
(ULS) and the registration system (CORES). "This means all electronic
license transactions would stop," Somma said. "FRN registrations would
be unavailable, and even the search engines would be unavailable."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced a short-term
spending bill to fund the government through February 8, 2019, in an
effort to avert a partial government shutdown this week. The FCC said
that, in general, during such a shutdown, all FCC activities will cease
other than those immediately necessary for the protection of life or
property, performing other excepted activities or those funded through
a source other than lapsed appropriations.
***
Addendum:
According to a story from the Fox News website on Dec. 20, 2018...
President Trump said that he will NOT approve/sign the "Continuing
Resolution", because "it contains no funding for the Border Wall"...which
Republicans support, and Democrats oppose.
In other words, Congressional Gridlock (which has been the case for many
years...they believe "compromise" is a "dirty word") rules the day again.
All they care about is their political careers, and not about their
constituents. And, the President added that basically "Congress is just
kicking the can down the road again".
In short, unless a breakthrough can be made for the President to sign
the Continuing Resolution, the government will "have a partial shutdown",
likely until after the new year, when the new Congress is sworn in.
Congress is "going home for the holidays", whether the government stays
open or not.
While the Democrats will then control the House of Representatives, the
Republicans will still control the Senate. However, even if they reach
an agreement, if the President refuses to sign the Continuing Resolution,
all their work is basically for nothing.
Those having CSCE's (Certificates Of Successful Completion Of Examination)
from a ham radio license exam session, do NOT get an extension in the
effective time of said CSCE. They are valid ONLY for 365 days from the
date of issuance. Normally, it only takes 2 weeks (sometimes a little
longer) after a license exam session, for the new license or upgrade to
show up in the FCC ULS. Once the new license or upgrade is in the FCC
ULS, the CSCE basically means nothing...and can either be kept as a
novelty, or discarded. The same applies if more than 365 days has elapsed
since the issuance of the CSCE.
For those who pass a license exam before or during a government shutdown,
only those with upgrades (they already had a callsign and license) can
still be on the air, using their new privileges, with the temporary
suffix identifiers. They will continue to do that until either the
government shutdown ends, or the CSCE expires. However, government
shutdowns rarely last more than a month or two at most...as it's
damaging in so many ways, including political. So, it's unlikely that
these upgrades would be lost, and the examinee would have to re-take
the license exam element again...unless the shutdown lasts for more
than a year.
Unfortunately, for those who just passed their first ham radio license
exam, the only way they can get on the air is via "Third Party Traffic",
under the supervision of a currently licensed ham radio operator. With
the government shutdown, the normal wait of 1 to 2 weeks after the exam,
can be 1 to 2 months or longer.
VE Teams can still conduct license exam sessions, but they should advise
examinees that "Due to a government shutdown, there will be a delay in
processing your new or upgraded license"...adding "this is out of our
hands".
Daryl Stout, WX1DER, UALR Ham Radio Club VE Team Liaison
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