The record

LegislationLegislation· Jul 2025
HR 1618 Passed House — in Senate

Sponsored by Robert E. Latta (R)

Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act

Requires the FCC to review satellite rules and recommend changes to support precision agriculture.

Tradeoff

Directs the FCC to study how satellite regulations could help farmers use GPS and drone technology. No funding or immediate regulatory changes required.

What's in it

See official bill text

Adds approximately $1 million to federal costs over 2025-2030, offset by FCC fee increases, resulting in negligible net cost to the government.

The $1 million is just the federal cost for the FCC to review and report on its satellite rules; the real impact falls on private telecommunications firms paying slightly higher regulatory fees, but the total cost to them is estimated as small.

H.R. 1618, Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act · Apr 2025

Passed the House by on July 14, 2025 — sitting in the Senate.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (Feb 26, 2025)

  2. House

    Committee on Energy and Commerce(Feb 26, 2025)

  3. House

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to send it to the floor

    Reported by (Mar 4, 2025)

    Committee report H. Rept. 119-195.

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Jul 14, 2025)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    on Commerce, Science, and Transportation(Jul 15, 2025)