Without Funding, NTIA Weighs Options for BTOP Oversight
NTIA could be faced with no money for oversight of its broadband stimulus program unless Congress acts in the lame-duck session starting in November. The agency, which administers the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), wants Congress to sort out the issue in the lame duck, an NTIA official said. One option under consideration is an appropriations process called “reprogramming,” wherein NTIA would repurpose existing funding from other programs that it runs, the official said.
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President Barack Obama’s fiscal-year 2011 budget sought $24 million for broadband oversight. In its proposed FY 2011 appropriations bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee provided $16 million for oversight and administration of the BTOP funds. But Congress hasn’t finished appropriations, and didn’t provide any funding for oversight in its continuing resolution, effective Oct. 1 to Dec. 3. It’s looking less likely that Congress will pass an omnibus appropriations bill this year, and more likely that it will approve another continuing resolution that would expire early next year, said Lisa Sutherland, a lobbyist with Creative Government.
Reprogramming is one possibility, but NTIA is “looking at all options to find the necessary funding to administer and oversee the broadband grants programs,” said the agency official. “We are committed to working with Congress to ensure full funding for these activities.” The Senate Appropriations Committee supports strong oversight of all of NTIA’s programs, a Senate staffer said. The committee hasn’t yet received any requests for reprogramming from the Commerce Department, NTIA’s parent agency, the staffer said. If NTIA wanted to reprogram existing funds, the agency would require signoffs from the Office of Management and Budget and House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees on Commerce. OMB has to agree before a request can be submitted to Congress. Democratic and Republican members of both subcommittees would then have to agree unanimously to approve the request.
The reprogramming mechanism “is intended to deal with unexpected developments that occur during a fiscal year subject to statutory limits that vary among agencies,” said David Taylor, managing partner of Capitol Solutions. “I believe it is an option here.” Sutherland agreed that reprogramming is an option, but said it may be too soon to predict what will happen. Another option is for NTIA to use existing administrative funds and have personnel already on the payroll do oversight, Sutherland said.
It’s procedurally easier to approve a reprogramming request than to approve new appropriations, since reprogramming does not require floor votes or a presidential signature. But it can sometimes be difficult to get OMB approval, and it’s possible one or more congressional subcommittee member will object to cutting money from certain programs. Reprogramming happens all the time, but its approval rate is nowhere close to 100 percent.
"The lack of Congressional funding for oversight at NTIA bothers me a great deal,” said Craig Settles, analyst at Successful.com. “I feel that one of the major areas where oversight needs to happen is with the business practices of private sector companies when they are the only entities receiving a particular grant.” The focus of many companies on just making a profit is a reason so many U.S. communities don’t have broadband, Settles said. “If smaller regional providers make business decisions such as which areas or constituents get service, pricing, etc., unchecked by sufficient oversight, then they will become like their larger incumbent counterparts.” Oversight is also needed to make sure that companies that got grants will live up to the promises they made, Settles said. “A network owner financially ailing due to poor money management during buildout won’t be able to adequately address quality of service, customer support and other operations critical to the network’s success once the network is turned on."
"Certainly the agency needs resources to do effective monitoring,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “Monitoring and ensuring compliance were key elements of the program. If grantees think they can play games and cut corners, it is inevitable that some will. And the more grantees that get away with such game playing, the more it encourages other grantees to do the same.” The FCC’s track record shows that when the government puts emphasis on enforcement, industry responds, Feld said. “When the FCC turns a blind eye, you get fun and games like the kind showing up in the CableCARD docket -- where cable operators display strategic incompetence on CableCARD support."
"I think it’s a real problem not only for follow-up oversight of the NTIA broadband,” said Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeffrey Silva, “but also for the entire federal government in light of how far behind Congress is with respect to passing appropriations bills and the House leadership’s decision several months ago forgo a new budget blueprint until a bipartisan commission releases its deficit-reduction report in early December.” Funding for “monitoring would help increase chances that government, broadband-challenged communities and taxpayers get a return on a $4 billion-plus investment aimed at bridging the nation’s broadband divide,” he said. “Without such scrutiny, there is a greater probability of waste, fraud and abuse.”