This week, lawmakers could change the date of the digital television transition. For the past few years, the government-mandated transition from analog to digital has been scheduled for February 17th or two weeks away. However The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would delay the digital TV transition from February 17 to June 12, according to a House committee.

"There are currently 1.8 million households on a waiting list to receive more than 3.3 million coupons," Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce, and Rick Boucher, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Internet subcommittee, wrote in a Monday letter to members of the House. "Without a delay of the transition date, few, if any, of these households will receive their coupons by February 17 because of the time it takes to process coupon requests."

The four-month delay was proposed by the Obama administration, therefore any question about whether or not it will receive a Presidential signature is moot - such an act by the President is a guarantee.

The delay is not a fix in itself, Mark Lloyd, vice president of strategic initiatives for the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, said in a news conference., but an opportunity to complete the work remaining to be done to ensure that communities most at risk, the poor, disabled, elderly and those speaking languages other than English, are not jeopardized by the loss of a vital source of information.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is in charge of the coupon program, which provides every American with two, $40 converter box coupons.