A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday aimed...
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at encouraging engagement among FCC commissioners. The FCC Collaboration Act (http://xrl.us/boe9ef) would modify rules that currently forbid more than two FCC members from talking to each other outside of an…
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official public meeting. Under the bill, non-public meetings of three or more commissioners can take place as long as no vote or agency action is taken at the meeting and an attorney from the FCC’s Office of General Counsel is present. The bill was introduced by House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., and Mike Doyle, D-Pa. A Senate companion bill will be introduced Thursday by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Dean Heller, R-Nev. Commissioner Ajit Pai applauded the legislation as one of many steps needed to encourage better and quicker responses from the commission on regulatory matters. The act would “help us meet deadlines set by Congress and the shot clocks we set for ourselves” as well as “facilitate a more fruitful dialogue about the potential costs and benefits of Commission action,” he said in a news release. Public Knowledge Vice President of Government Affairs Christopher Lewis also applauded the bill as a “significant step in streamlining decisions that are made at the FCC,” in a separate news release. But Lewis said he hopes the FCC provides transcripts of the meetings, “so the public can still be informed as to what is going on.”