Editing Federal Radio Commission (section)

===Radio Act of 1927===

Prior to the early 1926 adverse ruling on the Commerce Department's regulatory authority, there had been numerous efforts in the U.S. Congress to replace the Radio Act of 1912 with a more comprehensive bill, but none of these efforts made much headway. The need for new legislation gained additional importance because, in the absence of federal regulation, stations were taking their individual disputes to the courts, which began to render decisions favoring incumbent stations. This effectively was granting established stations "property rights" in the use of their assignments, which the government wanted to avoid, because it generally considered the radio spectrum to be a public resource.

Despite the recognition that new legislation was needed, there was a lack of consensus whether it should increase the authority of the Secretary of Commerce, which opponents argued would create a too-powerful "Radio Czar", or if an independent regulatory body was needed, which some disputed was unneeded and overly expansive. The legislation ultimately passed was known as the Dill-White Bill, which was proposed and sponsored by Senator [[Clarence Dill]] (D-Washington) and Representative [[Wallace H. White Jr.]] (R-Maine) on December 21, 1926. It was brought to the Senate floor on January 28, 1927, and, as a compromise, specified that a five member commission would be given the power to reorganize radio regulation, but most of its duties would end after one year. After a month of debates this bill was passed on February 18, 1927, as the Radio Act of 1927,<ref name="1927act">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b45924&view=1up&seq=204 ''Radio Act of 1927''] (Public Law 69-632), February 23, 1927, pages 186-200.</ref> and signed into law by President [[Calvin Coolidge]] on February 23, 1927.<ref name="howeth">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112064674325&view=1up&seq=537 "The Federal Radio Commission"] ''History of Communications-electronics in the United States'' by Captain Linwood S. Howeth, 1963, pages 505-506.</ref> The Commission's organizational meeting was held on March 15.