Hill Net Neutrality Action Remains Unlikely Post-FCC Draft Order Release
The emergence of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a Capitol Hill GOP opponent of the FCC’s draft order to rescind 2015 net neutrality rules underlines widespread perceptions lawmakers can't reach a deal on compromise legislation on that issue before the end of this Congress, Hill aides and observers told us. Prospects for net neutrality legislation have been dim all year (see 1702030044, 1707130063, 1708070068 and 1708300050). Democrats appear to be increasingly confident in remaining stridently opposed to a deal amid expectations of a legal challenge against the FCC and eagerness to feature the issue in the 2018 midterms, lobbyists said.
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Collins “does not support the FCC’s decision to abolish net neutrality,” a spokeswoman said in a Friday statement. “She supports common-sense regulations to clarify that Internet providers must not manage their systems in an anti-competitive way that limits consumers’ choices. She also believes that it is imperative to make sure federal policies do not discourage broadband investment in rural areas.” Collins is the first Senate Republican to publicly oppose the draft. Her spokeswoman didn’t comment on whether Collins would favor a legislative compromise backed by fellow Republicans.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and other Democrats continued Monday to rail against the draft, following a stream of other expected Hill reactions since last week (see 1711210041). Attempts to get any of the FCC’s three Republican commissioners “to reconsider is a waste of time,” Schatz tweeted. “We need to focus on winning some elections. We need net neutrality to be a voting issue, not an emailing the FCC issue.” Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., said constituents “filled our voicemail over Thanksgiving weekend opposing” repeal.
The situation on the Hill appears to be unchanged from the stalemate observed earlier this year, lobbyists and observers said. “I would not hold my breath for a legislative fix,” said former Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, now a Wilkinson Barker lawyer, during a call with reporters(see 1711270042). “The hard part is the politics,” as congressional Republicans and Democrats don’t appear that far apart on the substance of a potential compromise, said Larry Downes, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy project director, during the call.
“I don’t see the committees cutting a deal” on net neutrality this Congress given Democrats’ faith they can win in the courts and the court of public opinion amid the 2018 election, a GOP-leaning telecom lobbyist said. Democrats likely will “wait and watch” how the next election turns out before they return to the bargaining table on the issues, another Republican lobbyist said. “We really don’t see any impetus for the FCC or Congress to act” on net neutrality, said Sarah Morris, New America's Open Technology Institute director-open internet policy. If Congress does act, it shouldn’t be to “try to clean up a mess that [Chairman Ajit] Pai has created,” she said.
It's likely some congressional Democrats may try to press their case on net neutrality amid the next round of spending package legislation talks, two communications sector lobbyists said. “I’m sure people will try all sorts of stuff” on net neutrality, including possible riders aimed at freezing implementation of an FCC rollback of the 2015 rules, a telecom lobbyist said, “but there’s not a clear indication yet of what they’ll do long term” on a spending bill to fund the federal government through the rest of FY 2018 beyond a short-term continuing resolution to extend past Dec. 8 the deadline to pass the legislation. “I’m assuming someone will push” for a pro-2015 net neutrality rules rider “but I doubt it will go anywhere, because anything that’s controversial usually gets bounced,” a communications sector lobbyist said: “Shutting down the government” over an issue like net neutrality is “not ideal.”