Hill Commerce Leaders Forecast October Progress on Anti-Robocall, Broadband Mapping Bills
Leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees are optimistic about the potential for progress on several of their top telecom policy priorities when Congress returns in mid-October from its upcoming two-week recess, including work to marry House and Senate-passed anti-robocall bills and an upcoming House package of broadband mapping legislation. And Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., voiced his willingness to compromise on some aspects of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization. Congress is to recess at the end of this week and both chambers will reconvene Oct. 15.
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Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us they believe there has been major progress in informal conference negotiations to combine parts of the House-passed Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-3375) and the Senate-passed Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151). That builds on progress Thune saw when Congress returned earlier this month from its August recess (see 1909120056).
“It's in the home stretch,” Thune said. “We should have that pretty well wrapped up here soon.” Negotiations are now focused “on some of the finer details but on the main points we've come into a close understanding with the House about what a final bill will look like,” he said. “I doubt it happens this week” but will instead likely be “an exercise that we'll deal with when we get back” in October.
“We are making progress" on the House-Senate robocall negotiation, Walden said. “It's not done yet and we're still negotiating with the Senate, but I think we're in a good place.” It's “yet to be determined” how much of the final bill will draw from HR-3375 versus S-151, he said. A communications sector lobbyist said negotiators appear to be focused on creating a combined measure that's “reflective of both” bills, and its "going to be a pretty comprehensive” measure. “It's about compounding” those bills rather than “seeing anything dropped,” the lobbyist said.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., is hopeful Congress will be able to pass a compromise robocalls bill “sometime in October” given his perception that negotiations are “going OK” now. “The goal is to get [a measure] passed,” but there's no reason to believe Senate negotiators will want to remove major parts of HR-3375 from a compromise measure, he told reporters Wednesday. “They understand what they can do and what [the House] can do.”
Markups, STELA
House Communications is “going to mark some bills up in October, when we get back,” including a forthcoming combined broadband mapping measure and legislation aimed at addressing supply chain security and spectrum issues, Doyle said. “We don't have a date set yet” for the markup, but “I know it's stuff we want to get done” during the upcoming work period.
The combined broadband mapping bill is essentially “ready to roll,” though “I don't think they have it completely together yet,” Doyle said. He earlier said the House version of the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (Data) Act (HR-4229) would be the legislative vehicle, but “we’re going to be taking bits and pieces” of other measures House Communications examined earlier this month (see 1909110071) for use in the final legislation. Those bills were the Broadband Mapping After Public Scrutiny (Maps) Act (HR-2643), Broadband Data Improvement Act (HR-3162), Map Improvement Act (HR-4128) and Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act (HR-4227).
House Communications confirmed its planned Friday hearing will focus on seven bills, including three newly filed measures (see 1909240065) -- the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4459), the Network Security Information Sharing Act (HR-4461) and the Studying How to Harness Airwave Resources Efficiently Act (HR-4462). HR-4461, which like the other two new bills was expected (see 1909230068), would direct the Homeland Security secretary to create a “program to share information regarding supply chain security risks with trusted providers of advanced communications service and trusted suppliers of communications equipment or services.” The panel will convene at 9:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Several lawmakers told us they have no clear timetable for STELA renewal, but Wicker said he's “open to suggestion” on the length of the next recertification period. “We did a five-year” reauthorization in 2014, but “I'm not wedded” to using that as a template this time around, he said. “I think” a shorter renewal period now “might possibly help us achieve a consensus” that would sway some current skeptics (see 1908050037). Senate Commerce's STELA debate has “moved more slowly” than some anticipated, but it's likely the committee will move forward on it “sometime this fall,” Wicker said.
Doyle said there haven't “been discussions" within House Commerce about seeking a shorter recertification or a short-term extension into next year, but “there's been a lot of different proposals floated around.” Congress “can't just pull the rug out from almost 900,000” satellite subscribers who rely on STELA's distant signal license provision. “There's got to be a better solution than just to [end] it abruptly,” he said. “I think you're going to see a reauthorization,” but “how long it is I don't know. We have to coordinate that with [the Senate] anyway if we want to get it passed.” Doyle indicated House Commerce isn't directly coordinating now with the House Judiciary Committee on STELA matters. “We're going to do our thing and they'll do whatever they're going to do,” he said. “We just want to get it out of our committee.”
Walden said he wants “to see” what STELA proponents “are proposing to do or not do,” including possibly an abbreviated recertification period, before he decides whether he will support such a measure. Walden last year questioned whether there's enough reason for Congress to reauthorize the statute (see 1810230051). “The legislative clock for this year is running out and we're now down probably under 30 legislative days and we haven't seen” a proposal yet, he said. “We're open to discussions” on legislative contours.