Blackburn, Doyle Will Await Pai's Actions Before Negotiating Net Neutrality Legislation

“What I’d like to do is see where the FCC thinks that they can get with this,” House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told us Tuesday during a taping of C-SPAN’s The Communicators, set to be televised this weekend. “Of course, I’m not a fan of paid prioritization. I do not think we need to go in and legislate on that. I think that’s something for entities to negotiate when they are constructing a deal between two business entities. … I’m looking forward to working with Chairman Pai and the administration. And I’m a big believer in orderly process.”

“We’re not anxious to fix something that isn’t broken,” subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle D-Pa., said in a different interview Tuesday. “Do they want a bill that makes a statement or do they want a bill that can become law? There may be a basis for us to talk but I think it’s early. I think most Democrats on the committee are going to wait to see what Pai intends to do or not do. And then to see what direction the Republicans are going to try to move in if they do legislation, if they do something that would be more along the lines.”

Blackburn assumed her leadership role last month, as did Doyle. Capitol Hill Republicans raised the idea of legislation at the start of 2015, led by a trio from the GOP -- Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Greg Walden, R-Ore., the former and current House Commerce Committee chairmen. Their draft bill would have codified net neutrality rules, including a ban on paid prioritization, and limited FCC use of Communications Act Title II for broadband and its Telecom Act Section 706 authority. Senate negotiation persisted for months, before stalling in mid-2015. Thune and ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told us they're open to resumed negotiation last week, within days of Walden also expressing interest in returning to his earlier proposed draft (see 1702030044).

“Marsha’s thoughts on this were a little tougher than Greg’s,” Doyle said, noting it will be “be interesting to see the dynamic between Greg and Marsha” on this issue. Blackburn previously sponsored the Internet Freedom Act that would have nullified FCC regulation on the topic.

FCC Hearings Coming

Blackburn and Thune said they expect to summon Pai for testimony soon. “We haven’t firmed it up, but obviously we want to get everybody up and talk about the new issues with the new team,” Thune said in an interview. March 8 is one tentative date circulating among industry officials for such a hearing, but Thune and his office didn’t confirm it.

“We are hopeful that we can begin hearing from the FCC in February and have the commissioners before us in March,” Blackburn said. “The good thing is we’re talking with our colleagues in the Senate on regular basis.” The same is true of commissioners, she said. “Chairman Pai was up this week to meet with some of us,” she said. A committee aide said there’s a hunt for dates for FCC reauthorization hearings.

Blackburn said Capitol Hill Republicans will likely move forward with tackling FCC ISP privacy rules through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval, as expected (see 1701310071). Hill Democrats and public interest groups warned this could create a gap in privacy oversight. CRA use would prevent the FCC from developing similar rules in the future, absent congressional authorization.

“I think using the CRA is fine, that that would be the most expedient way to address the concerns,” Blackburn said. “We are working with the Senate to make certain that we can do that. And hopefully next week when we come back on Monday, we’ll have a resolution.” She didn’t say whether she would file the resolution of disapproval, and referred to ongoing negotiations with Senate Republicans. “I would think there would be a way to work through that, so that you don’t have a gap in oversight,” she said of concerns about the FTC's not being able to fill the void due to reclassification of broadband. The FTC always had oversight of privacy in the past, she said, wanting “an appropriate transfer of that responsibility.”

Blackburn, who helped with the transition team for President Donald Trump, said she hasn't "been asked” for her recommendations on a Republican to fill one of the two open seats on the FCC. She lauded the agency's process reforms so far and said the FCC isn't “sitting around waiting” while down two commissioners. She said she “enjoyed working with” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat. “She has been a good voice. Commissioner [Mike] O’Rielly, likewise.”

Reauthorizations

Blackburn doesn't expect to resume any greater Telecom Act overhaul this yea​r. Walden and Upton kick-started an update process throughout 2014 but that stalled amid the net neutrality debates. She said she thinks there could be room to look into an update in 2018.

Priorities for Blackburn will remain NTIA and FCC reauthorizations in the coming months, she said. Her first hearing was last week on NTIA reauthorization (see 1702020065), during which Doyle raised the possibility of attaching spectrum reallocation legislation to the vehicle and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., mentioned maybe including a measure to create grants for vehicle-to-infrastructure tech. “That’s kind of item No. 1,” she said, calling reauthorizations “an opportunity to revisit the structure of those agencies.” The key “will be to make sure they’re focused on their core missions,” Blackburn said, saying it’s “easy to get off script. … If emphasis needs to be shifted within the agencies, we will do that.” She cited the focus on wireless and siting as key takeaways for her from that hearing. She also anticipates rural broadband will remain a focus for Commerce lawmakers and sees that coming into play in the course of any infrastructure package that Congress may take up this year, a priority for the Trump administration.

“With reauthorizing the agencies, I hope that over the next six months, you will see us moving forward with NTIA and FCC [reauthorizations] to get this process started and to get the dialogue started,” she said. “I hope we’re well on our way, by the time we break for the August recess.” She wants the measures advanced “sooner rather than later,” she said.

NTIA currently lacks an administrator, and commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross also hasn't been confirmed. “We have had input we have needed,” Blackburn said when asked whether the subcommittee would need to await a new administrator before moving on legislation. She said she would love to see the Senate take more than one vote a day to help get Trump’s cabinet established. “We would like to have someone named,” she said. “It does not forestall us from taking action.”

On FCC structure, Blackburn wants more attention on spectrum management, she said. The issue can be considered off the table after the auctioning at times, she said. “This is one of the reasons NTIA and their association with the FCC is important,” she said. “As we reauthorize them, it is time for the FCC to look at their structure. … I would like to see a revitalization of the regional offices for the FCC so that if someone has a problem, they’re not finding themselves having to call Washington, D.C., and wait for someone to get around to calling them back.”

Doyle thinks Pai may prefer eventual legislation on the open internet, he said. “We don’t have a problem,” he said of the current regulations. “The open internet order works fine, and it was challenged in court, and the courts upheld it. … We’ll wait and see what Commissioner Pai wants to do, and I think he’d probably prefer Congress to do something as opposed to him doing something. ... If they’re talking about legislation, that ball’s in their court. They can put something out there, but in order to get any support from Democrats, there’s going to have to be a lot of give and take.”

“It can be kind of a one-two process,” Blackburn said of the next steps for net neutrality. “There can be a retraction or rescinding, that is something certainly that [the FCC] could do. I think Congress may want to come in and be specific on some things, with dealing with how broadband is approached. I think most people agree the internet is not broken. It does not need the FCC to manage it. ... Innovators do not need to go file with the FCC before they innovate an attachment to the internet.” She compared it to the original development of the internet. Title II reclassification “just was not helpful to growth and progress,” she said.