Wicker, Thune Ask Senate Appropriations to Nix FCC-FTC Bill Report's Spectrum Policy Text
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., oppose “telecommunications policy provisions” the Senate Appropriations Committee included in its report on the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill, including language to shape FCC spectrum policy. Senate Appropriations voted unanimously last week to advance the FCC-FTC bill with report language to pressure the FCC to hold a public auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 1909190079). Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt, R-Mo., meanwhile, is sticking by his decision to maintain CPB's annual funding at $445 million in its draft FY 2020 bill (see 1909180058).
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Wicker and Thune are concerned about the telecom policy language included in the bill report's FCC's section, specifically the spectrum-centric language, which addresses the C band and the debate over opening up the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. Senate Appropriations should remove all report language from the FCC-FTC bill “seeking to set policy or direct action by agencies within” Senate Commerce's jurisdiction, Wicker and Thune said in a letter to Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., we obtained. Kennedy spearheaded including the C-band language because of his vocal support for a public auction and opposition to the C-Band Alliance's proposal for a private auction (see 1909170060).
Spectrum policy's “a highly nuanced issue of fundamental importance to American economic leadership, national security, and the American consumer,” Wicker and Thune said. It “is appropriately addressed by” Senate Commerce “in the ordinary course of its legislative and oversight activities, rather than in report language for Appropriations bills.” Senate Commerce should establish spectrum policy “after careful consideration, appropriate hearings, and with a reasonable opportunity for the public and those affected to provide relevant information” to the committee, the committee leaders said. Thune already opposed congressional action to force FCC action on the C-band debate (see 1908230049).
Kennedy told us Thursday he hadn't received any feedback on the C-band language from Wicker and Thune but “I expect I will soon.” Spokespersons for Thune and the Senate Appropriations leaders didn't comment Monday.
The dispute "has not yet been resolved," Wicker told us Monday. "It's first and foremost" about Senate Appropriations impinging on Commerce's policy jurisdiction, but "that's not the only issue."
Kennedy defended Senate Appropriations Financial Services' decision to allocate only $312.3 million to the FTC in the FY 2020 funding bill instead of the $349.7 million level included in the bill (HR-3351) the House passed in June (see 1906260081). The Senate-proposed FTC funding level tracks with what President Donald Trump's administration proposed in March (see 1903110069). Both chambers proposed maintaining annual funding for the FCC and its Office of Inspector General at $339 million. “My Democratic friends” in the House “gave a lot of extra money to every agency at the expense of our federal buildings and their maintenance, which in my opinion have been underfunded for many years,” Kennedy said. “I think we'll get a better return on investment” by sticking to the Trump administration's proposed funding levels.
Blunt called his proposal to maintain CPB's annual funding at $445 million a cost-saving measure, noting the House-passed FY 2020 budget is $14 billion higher than the Senate “has to work with.” The House voted in June to increase CPB's annual budget to $495 million at the urging of America’s Public Television Stations (see 1906190065). It's “pretty easy to come up with” the $50 million annual funding increase the House-passed bill envisions given the additional overall funding the chamber proposes, Blunt told us. “My belief is that public broadcasting is happy with” maintaining its current funding level despite its desire for a raise. “We have fully funded” CPB in recent years despite repeated Trump administration pushes to wind down and then cut off its federal funding (see 1802120037), Blunt said.