House Communications Subcommittee Clears FCC Consolidated Reporting Act
The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously approved the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act Wednesday with a manager’s amendment saying the legislation wouldn't affect the agency’s authority. Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., unveiled the 11-page discussion draft earlier this week. House Communications Subcommittee ranking…
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member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., introduced the manager’s amendment specifying the limits of the legislation on agency authority. “First, our effort to consolidate reporting requirements, including the FCC’s ‘706’ Report does not in any way impact or alter the explicit grant of broadband authority that the court affirmed in the Verizon case last year,” Eshoo said at the markup. “Second, the amendment preserves the FCC’s obligation to examine how retransmission consent fees impact a consumer’s monthly bill.” The House unanimously passed the legislation in the last Congress but it never advanced in the Senate. Scalise said the amended language was not meant to “endorse” any FCC authority so much as to clarify that this bill would not weigh in on it. “As we did some reforms in the [Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization] bill, we wanted to make sure those didn’t get dropped out,” Scalise said of the amended language. “We ultimately will get this back on the House floor. … We do not need a report on the telegraph anymore.” Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., introduced the Senate companion bill (S-253) last month.