Post-Recess Hearings a Window on House Communications' Post-Net Neutrality Pivot

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., offered limited details on the subcommittee's plans immediately after the chamber's party-line passage of the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill. HR-1644 faces longer odds in the Senate and likely veto from President Donald Trump (see 1904100062). Lobbyists are closely following what House Commerce presents on the net neutrality debate, including whether its coming priorities are what one called a “pivot” away from the “partisan rancor” over HR-1644. Debate over the bill and a three Republican-led alternative measures dominated House Commerce's telecom agenda (see 1902070056 and 1904030077).

“There's a lot of things we're still looking at,” but “we just got through an issue [in HR-1644] we've been spending a lot of time and work on, so we haven't really sat down and thought through that” yet, Doyle told us soon after House passage and before the break. During the recess “we're going to take a couple of breaths and at some point ... decide what comes next.” Doyle sees as likely priorities a long-anticipated FCC oversight hearing, the debate over STELA recertification and potential NTIA reauthorization legislation. "Those are all things” on the subcommittee's radar.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said before the recess that his immediate priority is on securing passage of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (S-151) by unanimous consent once the chamber returns. A Senate Communications hearing earlier this month aimed to boost S-151 (see 1904110066). “I'd expect to see” a STELA-focused hearing “on the schedule soon,” though the timeline is ultimately “up to” Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Thune said. He's continuing to work on potential updates to his Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act, which last Congress drew opposition from local governments (see 1810040055). The bill aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063).

Thune's continuing meetings “to see if there's a consensus path forward” on autonomous vehicle legislation. The Senate failed last year to approve the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies Act (see 1812210049), which Thune sponsored with Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. The House passed the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research In Vehicle Evolution Act in 2017 (see 1709060035). “If there isn't a bicameral path, [Thune's office is] trying to work with” Peters to reintroduce the AV Start Act instead, Thune said.

House Pivot

House Communications' first post-recess priority will be on robocalls legislation, the subject of a planned April 30 hearing (see 1904230081). The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. The committee didn't say who will testify or what legislation will be considered.

The panel will likely include discussion about the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946), sponsored by House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., lobbyists said. The bill would clarify the definition of a robocall, and clarify exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ban. It would create a national database of reassigned phone numbers and require FCC-FTC cooperation to reduce abusive robocalls by “at least” 50 percent yearly (see 1902040043). There may also be a focus on S-151's House companion measure (HR-2015), lobbyists said.

The robocalls hearing will give House Communications an easy opportunity to return to a spirit of bipartisanship after the often-testy debate over HR-1644. That's not necessarily the reason Democrats are choosing to make it their first post-recess priority, since robocalls are the top consumer complaint to the FCC, lobbyists said. The issue gives House Commerce an “opportune” way to return to “regular business” on telecom matters, a telecom lobbyist said. The number of companies and groups that lobbied on addressing illegal robocalls increased in Q1 to 17 from seven during the same period in 2018.

House Communications is also eyeing a mid-May FCC oversight hearing, lobbyists said. Such a hearing is almost certain to feature at least some degree of partisan rancor given the ongoing divide over the leadership of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, lobbyists said. Pallone and Doyle said soon after the 2018 election they intend to conduct more critical oversight hearings on the agency after Democrats regained the majority in the House (see 1811140055). House Commerce Democrats saw those efforts initially stymied by the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January and leadership's decision to fast-track consideration on HR-1644 (see 1901160031 and 1903270045). House Commerce didn't comment Wednesday.

Spectrum

Some House Communications lawmakers and staff are taking behind-the-scenes interest in the C band and other mid-band spectrum, lobbyists and officials said. Subcommittee Democrats are in part responding to calls from Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1904190054) and Geoffrey Starks to open more mid-band spectrum as 5G deployments start, lobbyists said.

The Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act could be a potential vehicle for addressing midband spectrum issues, lobbyists said. Reintroduction of the measure is delayed (see 1903270071), though Doyle is in talks with Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., to be the measure's lead House GOP sponsor, lobbyists said. Lawmakers delayed refiling the Airwaves Act amid a push for the wireless and cable industries to reach a consensus on C-band language, lobbyists said.

Congressional Spectrum Caucus co-chairs Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., are also working on C-band legislation, lobbyists said. The bill may focus on language to expressly authorize the FCC to do a public auction, one telecom lobbyist said. The FCC is deciding between several C-band proposals, including a government-run auction and plans from T-Mobile and the C-Band Alliance (see 1904180021). A C-band bill could give the FCC “a nudge to take a proactive role in working to resolve” the debate on a way to use the band for 5G, said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Broadband and Spectrum Policy Director Doug Brake.

Whither STELA?

Senate Commerce's long-expected media market hearing, seen as a way to set up the committee's STELA debate (see 1903150045), appears to be off the table until at least after Memorial Day, lobbyists said. Senate Commerce didn't comment Wednesday. The committee had been eyeing dates for the hearing during the upcoming work period, but that's no longer a possibility, lobbyists said. Senate Commerce originally eyed a March date for the hearing but encountered scheduling conflicts (see 1903190030).

“The later that hearing gets pushed, the more” likely Senate Commerce will feel compelled to convert it into a fully STELA-specific hearing because of the tightening timeline to consider renewal of the statute, said a communications sector lobbyist. The 2014 recertification extended the statute through 2019 (see 1411200036). A later public start to STELA talks makes it "more likely" Congress will end up pursuing a "clean reauthorization" measure, said Public Knowledge Senior Counsel John Bergmayer. "Tacking on" additional media policy issues becomes more difficult when lawmakers face a compressed timeline.

Fourteen entities lobbied on STELA-related issues during Q1, up from the three in Q1 2018 and equal with the 14 who cited it as a priority Q3 (see 1810230051). Tech and telecom entities that reported Q1 lobbying spending this week had a range of large swings in their totals (see 1904230082), continuing a trend at AT&T, Google and Sprint (see 1904220057).

Senate Commerce's attention will continue to be more focused on privacy legislation, though 5G and other telecom matters are still getting attention, lobbyists said. The committee Wednesday set a May 1 privacy hearing, its third on the issue this year (see 1904240023). An April 30 Senate Security Subcommittee hearing on IoT cybersecurity is to touch on 5G network security for connected devices (see 1904230075). Wicker is continuing to pursue bipartisan legislation on improving federal agencies' broadband coverage data collection practices, a telecom lobbyist said. Wicker and other Senate Commerce raised concerns about broadband mapping at a hearing earlier this month (see 1904100064).