FCC Requests 5.3% Increase in FY24 Budget to $410.7B

The FCC is asking Congress for budgetary authority of $410,743,000 for its Fiscal Year 2024. That represents an increase of $20,551,000 or 5.3 percent from the FY 2023 appropriated level of $390,192,000, reports TV Technology.

In terms of staffing, the FCC requested 1,600 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) funded by budget authority from regulatory fee offsetting collections, spectrum auctions program, and other budget authorities provided by the President and Congress. That would represent no increase from the 1,600 FTEs approved for FY23.

In making its budget requests, the FCC also asked Congress to renew its spectrum auction authority, which expired for the first time in more than 30 years on March 9, through 2033.

For FY24, the FCC requested $136,167,000 in budget authority for the spectrum auctions program, up $3,936,000 or 3 percent from the FY 2023 appropriated level of $132,231,000.

In urging Congress to renew the spectrum auction authority, It also noted that as of January 31, 2023, the Commission’s spectrum auctions program has generated over $233.5 billion for government use and that the total cost of the auctions program has been less than $2.5 billion or 1.1 percent of the total auctions’ revenue.

“Absent an extension of its auction authority for spectrum, the Commission’s authority to grant licenses or construction permits for stations using spectrum subject to mutually exclusive application using competitive bidding will terminate on March 9, 2023, except for spectrum identified pursuant to the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 and IIJA,” the FCC noted. “The budget proposes to extend the FCC’s auction authority for ten years through 2033.”