Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI

Re: 	LPTV, TV Translator, and FM Broadcast Station Reimbursement, MB Docket No. 18-214; Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions, GN Docket No. 12-268.

The ongoing repack that followed the broadcast television incentive auction has imposed and will continue to impose a financial burden on many low power television (LPTV), TV translator, and FM stations.  And last year, through the Reimbursement Expansion Act, Congress gave the FCC the authority to reimburse these stations for expenses reasonably related to the repack and beefed up the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund by $1 billion.  This made it much less likely that these classes of broadcasters will have to pay out of their own pockets after being forced through no fault of their own to relocate or modify their facilities.

Today, we breathe life into the Reimbursement Expansion Act by setting up the process for eligible LPTV, TV translator, and FM stations to obtain reimbursement for their legitimate repack-related expenses.  And to manage our resources effectively, we adopt measures to guard against waste, fraud, and abuse in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund.

This item required the efforts of many agency staff to meet a tight statutory deadline.  My thanks to Hillary DeNigro and Jean Kiddoo from the Incentive Auction Task Force; Joyce Bernstein, Jim Bradshaw, Michelle Carey, Martha Heller, Barbara Kreisman, Shaun Maher, Kim Matthews, Evan Morris, Maria Mullarkey, and Tom Nessinger from the Media Bureau; and Dave Konczal from the Office of General Counsel.
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