[MDham] FW:

[n3khk_john at verizon.net]

FYI

John Klim
N3KHK

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
>From n3ij at comcast.net Sun Nov 20 18:25:08 2005
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 18:23:07 -0500
To: <snipped>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message is for information only. No action is needed at this time.

You may recall that early this year the General Assembly considered Senate
  Joint Resolution 2, Amateur Radio - Support and
Encouragement. It passed the Senate 46-0, thanks to an outstanding panel  
of witnesses in the Senate hearing and strong support from the
amateur community. The bill made no progress in the House, despite  
vigorous support from the Amateur community. The Baltimore Amateur Radio  
Club's legislative affairs team  met with House Speaker Busch several  
weeks ago, and he explained that the House feels that resolutions are a  
poor way to make public policy -- bills are preferable.

Sen. Katherine Klausmeier and Del. Wade Kach are planning to introduce a  
bill in the upcoming General Assembly session containing the
following provisions:

(a) The governing documents of homeowners associations (single-family and 
 townhouse communities) adopted after Sept 30, 2006 must
contain a specific statement that assigns sole authority over Amateur  
Radio equipment to FCC and local government. (b) Existing
homeowners associations may not amend their documents on or after October 
 1, 2006 to further restrict or prohibit Amateur Radio
equipment.

Our strategy from a year ago has not changed; this is the bill that the  
team expected to have introduced at this time if SJ2 passed. Speaker Busch
found nothing objectionable in the 2006 bill, but urged us to explain it
to all the groups that may be interested and if possible incorporate their
views, before it is introduced.

We wanted to start with the simplest possible legislation that would do  
some good right away. This legislation is NOT retroactive -- it
does not affect existing covenants or rules. It stops the spread of  
antenna prohibitions, but has no effect over the existing ones.
This is because we have been told that retroactivity would make this bill 
 unlikely to pass. It does not affect condos because they are
far more complex, with the common property intermingled with the  
residents' property -- some condos may own the interiors of walls, some
may own balconies, all probably own the roofs and all surrounding land.

This bill removes the authority of the HOA over amateur
antennas and related structures, but does not add to the existing  
authority of local government. PRB-1 and P.L. 103-408 now require
local government to accommodate Amateur Radio reasonably. PRB-1 requires  
the minimum practicable regulation to achieve a legitimate purpose.
Experience with this bill will guide future legislative efforts.

The 2006 session begins in about 60 days. Between now and then we intend  
to do two things:  (1) get the views of groups that may be
affected, including, of course, as many Amateur Radio clubs as possible,  
and (2) acquire written statements of support for the
legislation from educators, emergency managers, and others around the  
state. I will send more information on item (2) as soon as I develop the
format for the statements. I will also let you know if the bill changes
significantly. The only thing you need to do now is decide whether to
invite me to visit your club and when.  After the sesssion starts in
mid-January, there will be more for you to do. Your support for SJ2 last  
winter was widely praised.

If you know of better e-mail addresses for any of the Maryland clubs,  
please let me know. If I missed a club, I would also like to know.

Questions and suggestions are welcome.

73,

Tom Coates, N3IJ
Legislative Affairs Team
Baltimore Amateur Radio Club

-- 
A favorable situation will never be exploited if the commanders wait for  
orders.
(Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, 1870)


--
To unsubscribe, send mail to madxra-request at madxra.org with the
word unsubscribe in the body of the message.  To subscribe, send
mail to madxra-request at madxra.org with the word subscribe in the
body of the message.  Questions or comments about this list should
be sent to madxra-owner at madxra.org.


-- 
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.4/176 - Release Date: 11/20/2005