No Bipartisan Deal on House Commerce STELA Renewal Legislation Amid Markup

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., urged his colleagues Tuesday to move forward on STELA reauthorization, pointing to the House Commerce markup of HR-5035. “Now is the time for senators to make their positions clear” on the renewal issue, he said in a Senate floor speech. When Congress returns from the Thanksgiving recess, lawmakers will have “just two weeks -- 10 legislative days -- to finalize” a renewal measure. Wicker last week postponed a Senate Commerce markup (see 1911130055) of his Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act (S-2789), which would renew STELA through 2024, amid a committee members' revolt. The law is set to expire Dec. 31.

“I have been polling members to ascertain what this body wants” on STELA and as Senate Commerce chairman “I will act according to the majority wishes,” Wicker said. “But time is running short.” If senators “are of a mind to move forward with some extension of this statute, we will work with our colleagues in the House,” he said. “That may include improvements and enhancements” to the law that “address good-faith requirements, level the playing field in the marketplace, promote access to programming and ensure robust competition.”

House Commerce leaders signaled at the start of the Tuesday session that an HR-5035 deal was elusive, despite intense negotiations. HR-5035 would extend until the end of 2024 STELA's good-faith requirement and would continue to allow import of distant signals under the compulsory license. The measure incorporates language from the Truth-in-Billing, Remedies and User Empowerment over Fees (True Fees) Act (HR-1220) and would let MVPDs collectively negotiate for retransmission consent using a qualified buying group (see 1911130055).

Negotiation 'Issues'

House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., said at the markup he's “not sure that we can find a path forward” on HR-5035 but remains “hopeful we can reach a good outcome.” Negotiators had been proposing a manager's amendment that would narrow the scope of the HR-1220 language included in a final version of HR-5035 and would make STELA’s good-faith retransmission consent negotiations requirement permanent instead of requiring a new renewal of the provision in 2024 (see 1911180049).

Walden told us the failure to reach a deal centered on only one issue, indicating “a number of the pieces are locked down.” There were “still issues with" how a manager's amendment would handle collective MVPD retrans negotiations language in HR-5035 and specifically “about how big the buying group should be, what's fair” Walden told us Tuesday. “We're close, but we're not there yet.” It's “unfortunate we haven't had regular order where you could vet this in a more public space and get the parties at the same table,” he said.

“We continue to negotiate” on an agreement, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., during the markup. “It's still a work in progress.” He told us Monday it would likely take “all day” and into the night Tuesday to complete the markup session. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said she's “disappointed” there wasn't a deal but is hopeful it will happen later.

Walden told us he favors the approach to renewing the STELA-mandated the distant-signal compulsory license proposed in HR-5140. The bill, led by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., would make permanent the distant-signal license but limit its scope to cover only trucks, RVs and households in short markets. It would provide a limited extension of the distant-signal license for 120 days for all other currently covered subscribers and would require satellite providers using the distant-signal license to serve all 210 designated market areas.

“I'm comfortable with” what HR-5140 proposes, Walden said. “None of us wants to disenfranchise someone who's on the road or in an RV or camping or whatever. Everybody gets that. That's a fair way to extend that authority.”

Doyle told us he's open to “fold in” whatever distant-signal license language House Judiciary decides to advance into HR-5035 before full House consideration of the measure. “We're going to leave that up to them,” Doyle said. “We were careful” not to impinge on House Judiciary's authority over copyright-related parts of STELA.

Other Bills

The other bills awaiting House Commerce votes Tuesday after our deadline included the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (Broadband Data) Act broadband mapping legislative package (HR-4229). HR-2881 and Senate version S-893 would require the president develop a strategy for ensuring security of 5G networks and infrastructure (see 1903270065). Eshoo proposed an amendment to HR-4229 that would add additional requirements for the FCC to contract for data mapping services, namely barring the entity from “selling, leasing, or otherwise disclosing for monetary consideration any personally identifiable information to any entity other than for purposes” authorized under the bill.

Also on the docket: H. Res. 575, the Secure 5G and Beyond Act (HR-2881), the Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act (HR-4227), the Network Security Information Sharing Act (HR-4461), the Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act (HR-4500), legislation to renew the Undertaking Spam, Spyware and Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act (HR-4779), the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) and the Studying How to Harness Airwave Resources Efficiently (Share) Act (HR-5000).

H. Res. 575 would express the sense of the House that 5G development stakeholders should consider adhering to proposals adopted at the May Prague 5G Security Conference on a cooperative approach to security, with each nation free to develop its own policies (see 1905030052). HR-2881 and Senate version S-893 would require the president develop a strategy for ensuring security of 5G networks and infrastructure (see 1903270065). HR-4227 would explicitly forbid knowingly giving the FCC inaccurate coverage data (see 1909110071). HR-4461 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.”

HR-4500 would direct NTIA to encourage U.S. companies and others to participate in international standards-setting bodies (see 1905150066). An amendment from Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, would encourage “companies and a wide variety of relevant stakeholders, but not including any company or relevant stakeholder” NTIA “has determined to be not trusted” to participate in the standards-setting bodies. It would add the same language to a provision on whom NTIA should “equitably offer technical expertise” to aid in participation.

HR-4998 would require the FCC to provide $1 billion in funding to help small carriers remove equipment from companies that may be a security risk (see 1909240065). An amendment from Walden and Pallone would limit to $5 million the amount for funding to be used for administrative costs.

HR-5000 is aimed at reasserting the existing roles of the FCC and NTIA in managing and sharing federal spectrum. It would direct them to develop a R&D program for sharing frequencies between federal incumbents and commercial users. The bill would authorize $50 million for NTIA to establish a spectrum-sharing prototyping and test bed program. An amendment from Reps. Scott Peters, D-Calif., and Tim Walberg, R-Mich., would ask the NTIA administrator to consider whether to propose in the strategy changes in policy on “look-before-talk” and “synchronization” technologies.