[Senate Report 109-93]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 109-93
_______________________________________________________________________
Calendar No. 142
TRAINING FOR REALTIME WRITERS ACT OF 2005
__________
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 268
DATE deg.June 27, 2005.--Ordered to be printed
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred ninth congress
first session
TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Co-Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West
CONRAD BURNS, Montana Virginia
TRENT LOTT, Mississippi JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota
OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California
GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida
JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey
JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska
JIM DeMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas
DAVID VITTER, Louisiana
Lisa Sutherland, Staff Director
Christine Drager Kurth, Deputy Staff Director
David Russell, Chief Counsel
Margaret Cummisky, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Samuel Whitehorn, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel
Calendar No. 142
109th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 109-93
======================================================================
TRAINING FOR REALTIME WRITERS ACT OF 2005
_______
June 27, 2005.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Stevens, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 268]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 268) to provide competitive
grants for training court reporters and closed captioners to
meet requirements for realtime writers under the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments
and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The primary objective of this legislation is to allow funding
to be made available for the purpose of training real-time
writers qualified to provide captioning services.
BACKGROUND AND NEEDS
There are over 28 million deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans
who rely on closed captioning to get news and other vital
information. Closed captioning also opens the world to the deaf
and hard-of-hearing by allowing them to interact and
participate in civic and personal events. Further, an
additional 72 million Americans benefit from closed captioning
including remedial readers, young children learning to read,
and individuals learning English as a second language.
When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 it
required that all video programming distributors provide
captioning for 100 percent of non-exempt English language
programming by 2006 and Spanish language programming by 2010.
Currently, there are approximately 300 English language
captioners and six Spanish language captioners in the United
States who are able to consistently caption at the speed and
accuracy levels necessary for real-time closed captioning of
television programming. In order to ensure that this
requirement is met for the over 1700 broadcast stations and
hundreds of cable and satellite channels, the National Court
Reporters Association estimates that thousands of additional
captioners will be needed. This legislation would assist in
fulfilling this Congressional requirement.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On February 2, 2005, Senator Harkin introduced S. 268, ``The
Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005''. The bill has 23
cosponsors. In addition, H.R. 27, ``The Job Training
Improvement Act of 2005'', which would authorize similar
funding levels for realtime writers, was approved by the House
of Representatives on March 2, 2005.
On March 10, 2005, the Committee held an Executive Session at
which S. 268 was considered. The bill was approved unanimously
by voice vote and was ordered reported with an amendment by
Senator Sununu. The amendment would limit administrative costs
for the program to 5 percent of appropriated grant funds; shift
management of the program from the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Secretary of
Commerce; require an annual review of the program be conducted
by the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce, sunset
the program in 2009; and specify $20 million as the
authorization level for fiscal year 2009.
ESTIMATED COSTS
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 15, 2005.
Hon. Ted Stevens,
Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 268, the Training
for Realtime Writers Act of 2005.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Melissa E.
Zimmerman.
Sincerely,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director.
Enclosure.
S. 268--Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005
Summary: CBO estimates that implementing S. 268 would cost
$67 million over the next five years, assuming the
appropriation of the authorized amounts. The funds would be
used by the Department of Commerce to provide grants to
entities that train court reporters, including court reporters
who have completed training programs for realtime writers. The
grants would be used to promote training and job placement for
such individuals.
Enacting this bill would not affect direct spending or
revenues. S. 268 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA); any costs to state, local, or tribal governments would
result from complying with conditions of federal assistance.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 268 is shown in the following table. For
this estimate, CBO assumes that $20 million authorized to be
appropriated for each of 2006 through 2009 will be appropriated
for each fiscal year and that outlays will follow historical
trends for similar programs. The costs of this legislation fall
within budget function 370 (commerce and housing credit).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-----------------------------------------------
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Authorization Level............................................. 0 20 20 20 20 0
Estimated Outlays............................................... 0 2 11 16 20 18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 268
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA; any costs to state, local, or tribal
governments would result from complying with conditions of
federal assistance.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Melissa E. Zimmerman;
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Sarah Puro;
Impact on the Private Sector: Craig Cammarato.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the
legislation, as reported:
Number of persons covered
The legislation provides an authorization of appropriations
for the fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 to enable the
Secretary of Commerce to provide grants to fund educational
programs to train real-time writers. This bill will affect the
estimated 72,000,000 individuals who use close captioning
services, including more than 28,000,000 who are deaf or hard
of hearing.
Economic impact
Section 7 of this bill authorizes appropriations of $20
million dollars for fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Privacy
This legislation will not have any adverse impact on the
personal privacy of the individuals affected.
Paperwork
S. 268 would require each eligible entity receiving grants to
submit to the Secretary of Commerce a report describing the use
of grant amounts and the effectiveness of activities aimed at
increasing the number of real-time writers. The bill would also
require a final report by each entity receiving grants on best
practices for increasing the number of individuals who are
trained, employed, and retained in employment as real-time
writers.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 would provide that the bill may be cited as
``Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005''.
Section 2. Findings
Section 2 would set forth Congressional findings on the need
for closed captioning services. The findings detail the history
of the Federal Communications Commission's adopted rules
requiring closed-captioning and its accompanying studies which
demonstrate the benefits received from closed captioning
services.
Section 3. Authorization of grant program to promote training and job
placement of realtime writers
Section 3 would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to
provide grants to accredited educational institutions. Grants
would be for a period of two years and would not exceed $1.5
million.
Section 4. Application
Section 4 would provide information on the application
process to receive a grant from the Secretary of Commerce.
Section 5. Use of funds
Section 5 would set forth the requirements for the use of
funds for entities receiving grants. Grants would be used for
recruitment, training and assistance, and job placement for
individuals who have completed a court reporting training
program. Section 5 would impose a 5 percent cap on the amount
of grant funds that the Secretary of Commerce could spend on
administrative costs.
Section 6. Reports
Section 6 would require each entity receiving a grant to
provide a report to the Secretary of Commerce, at the end of
each year of the grant period and would require an annual
review be conducted by the Inspector General of the Department
of Commerce.
Section 7. Authorization of appropriations
Section 7 would authorize $20,000,000 dollars for each of
fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Section 8. Sunset
Section 8 would repeal the Act on October 1, 2009.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the bill as
reported would make no change to existing law.