The National Association of Amateur Radio reports that text from the proposed Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR 555) has been used for the Courtney-Hartzler-Rogers Amendment to the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The Amateur Radio Parity Act would give radio amateurs in restricted communities the right to install effective outdoor antennas, even if their communities bar such structures. The bill has the support of both Republicans and Democrats, but has not gotten to the House floor for a vote in the past several years. It has a much better chance of getting passed tucked into the defense bill, which many representatives will be reluctant to vote against no matter what amendments are added. “The bill does entitle each and every Amateur Radio operator living in a deed restricted community to erect an effective outdoor antenna. Full stop. That is the principal benefit of this legislation,” ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, stressed. “There are tens of thousands of ham radio licensees who now, absent the legislation, cannot erect any outdoor antenna at all. Once the bill passes both Houses, the FCC would still have to implement it into the Part 97 Amateur Service rules.