House Commerce Clears FCC Reauthorization Bill Now Named After Deceased Staff Director Baum
The House Commerce Committee passed the FCC Reauthorization Act (HR-4986), now renamed in honor of recently deceased committee Staff Director Ray Baum (see 1802090018), on a voice vote Wednesday, after reaching a compromise on a manager's amendment on language to authorize additional repack funding. The manager's amendment, from House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., renamed HR-4986 the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act. House Commerce removed anticipated language from the Senate-passed Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless (Mobile Now) Act (S-19) spectrum bill (see 1708030060) before releasing the amendment's text Tuesday.
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House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters Tuesday he's optimistic HR-4986 can reach the House floor as soon as after the Presidents' Day recess next week, perhaps even under suspension of the rules to ease the path for noncontroversial legislation. “We'll have it ready to go,” as House leaders already support fast-tracking HR-4986, Walden said. “I think we're in a really good place.” He told reporters he hopes “what comes out of committee is what's going to come to the floor,” though he later vowed at the markup to work with several members on additional amendments to HR-4986 before a final vote.
House Commerce ultimately dropped a plan to include language from S-19 in the manager's amendment because of “some issues” with that bill's language that couldn't be resolved in time for the markup, Walden told reporters, referring to objections from the Department of Defense and some congressional Democrats. S-19's language was originally “written three years ago,” so it's now “a little outdated at this point,” a House aide told us. The committee sought feedback from the White House, FCC, DOD and other federal agencies, and there was a collective “strong feeling” that including S-19's text in HR-4986 “could have been counterproductive” now.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us he's hoping Senate Commerce can move to its own FCC reauthorization legislation in the near future with the “same approach” to the bill's language as was in the Senate Commerce-cleared 2016 FCC Reauthorization Act (see 1604270055). Thune acknowledged Wednesday there were “some changes” his House colleagues wanted to make to S-19's language that were still up for negotiation. It's ultimately “up to Senate Commerce to reach back out to the agencies and determine what the path forward for [S-19] would be,” a House aide said. The Senate passed S-19 in August as part of a package of telecom-related legislation in a deal that also confirmed FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1708030060).
The repack language included in the manager's amendment reflects elements of the Viewer Protection Act (HR-3347), including $50 million in funding for consumer education on the repack process. But the version of HR-3347's language in the amendment doesn't delineate a specific amount of funding it would add to supplement the $1.75 billion currently allocated in the Broadcaster Relocation Fund. HR-3347 as filed last year by House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., would have provided up to $1 billion in additional repack funds (see 1707200051). The amount of funding lawmakers will allow via HR-4986 may not need to be determined even by the time the House votes given the “way we've written it,” Walden told reporters.
The manager's amendment included language from other bills, including the Tribal Digital Access Act (HR-1581), which would focus on expanding broadband deployments (see 1703160065). The amendment also dropped language from other bills, including the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S-96), Kari’s Law Act (S-123) and Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR-555). House Commerce staff saw no need to keep language from S-96 and S-123 in the bill given the House passed versions of both bills last week, Walden said during the markup. HR-555's Senate companion (S-1534) has, meanwhile, generated opposition on the Senate side, particularly from Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Walden, Pallone and other lawmakers took time during the Wednesday markup to eulogize Baum and touted HR-4986 as an example of bipartisan cooperation. Walden also led a House floor tribute to Baum Tuesday.
House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and some other committee Democrats also admonished Republicans on other issues that continue to engender partisan rancor, including the FCC's order to rescind its 2015 net neutrality rules and the lack of dedicated broadband funding in President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal (see 1802120001). HR-4986 is a “good compromise,” but lawmakers should “not lose sight” of ongoing controversies, Doyle said. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., noted his concern that “rural America is on the precipice of being left behind” without dedicated broadband funding and criticized House Commerce for not holding a hearing on Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune.