House Aiming for Quick Passage of Net Neutrality Bill
The House must quickly introduce net neutrality legislation if it’s to have a shot of passing this year, industry observers said Monday. The House Commerce Committee is putting the finishing touches on a bill that would give the FCC authority for two years to enforce its four open-Internet principles but not the additional two principles on nondiscrimination and transparency proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Hill and industry officials said. “We are working hard on legislation to protect the open Internet and are actively working to develop a bipartisan consensus,” said a committee spokeswoman.
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"I have the draft legislation, but since it is a draft it is not available to the press or public,” Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., of the House Communications Subcommittee said by e-mail. “I believe that we should hold a hearing on this proposed bill, even if it means holding it during the ‘lame duck’ session.” Stearns referred Friday to an “agreement” on net neutrality (CD Sept 20 p7). He and subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., have been meeting for months with industry groups that also met at the FCC this summer. Also over the summer, Democratic and Republican staffers from the House and Senate Commerce committees and Communications subcommittees held closed-door talks with industry and other interests.
A final deal hasn’t been reached, but if one is made, the bill could be expedited, a House staffer said. The Commerce Committee is still working on a draft, and it will move only if it’s bipartisan, said the staffer. Introduction is expected early this week, but if it’s not out by Thursday the effort is likely dead, said a telecom industry official. If members introduce a bipartisan bill this week, the House has a “semi-realistic” chance of passing a measure before it adjourns Oct. 8, the official said. That would leave the Senate to pass the bill in a lame-duck session after the elections -- but that body is a “different animal,” where even a bipartisan bill could get held up or derailed by unrelated items, the official said.
"It’s really questionable that there’s enough time to do it, and that means any effort would have to be narrow in focus and broad in terms of industry support to avoid the battles that would bog it down,” said Potomac Research analyst Paul Glenchur. The legislation would need to be introduced this week to pass the House before the election, Stifel Nicolaus said in a note late Friday.
The bill in its current draft “would be a big win for the Bells and cable,” said Stifel Nicolaus. The draft “reflects the growing clout of the Hill Republicans and the increased sense of Hill Democrats that the FCC is unlikely to move on reclassification after the election.” Content, applications and other tech companies probably won’t support the plan without changes, “as it does not go even as far as” Verizon and Google’s proposal, the analyst firm said. “It is unlikely the legislation will be introduced without significant support from that side.”