O'Rielly Slams USF Joint Board as Contribution Factor Rises

O’Rielly wouldn’t acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's defeat of President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede, throughout the NARUC panel. “Whatever happens in the election, and I keep no commentary on that,” the Republican prefaced one answer. O’Rielly addressed NARUC as a Senate Commerce Committee hearing opened on his possible replacement, Nathan Simington.

The now 27.1% USF contribution factor keeps rising as revenue declines, said Clyburn. “We have been punting, we have been politicizing, and we have been mishandling this issue.” Moving to a connections-based system and expanding the “crumbling” base would help but are “politically difficult,” she said. It should be part of the infrastructure package narrative, but it’s not on most people’s radar, she said.

“We’re going to hit 30%, and I don’t think anyone’s going to do a thing,” said O’Rielly. Some providers say it should be addressed through general appropriations by Congress, “and I think that’s probably the direction we’re headed.” Policymakers should consider ways to trim USF spending, he added.

O’Rielly blamed inaction partly on the USF joint board, of which he is federal chair. “I don’t think they’re functioning as intended. You know, you give someone like me who’s not the chairperson control,” but FCC “staff has got multiple obligations to the chairman’s prerogatives,” he said. When O’Rielly gives tasks, “they get lost in the shuffle,” he said. “Things take too long” in all the joint boards, he added. “The whole structure should be looked at differently.”

Universal service joint board state members “stand ready to work with our FCC colleagues, current and future, to resolve the increasingly pertinent issue of contribution reform and other universal service related issues,” state Chair Chris Nelson emailed afterward.

O’Rielly is open to a waiver or stay of the Lifeline minimum service standard increasing to 11.75 GB on Dec. 1, since the deadline is fast approaching, he said. O’Rielly said his objection to the draft order circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai led to the item getting pulled (see 2011020065). The commissioner listened to consumer advocates’ and providers’ arguments that the FCC plan would be harmful to Lifeline subscribers and industry by creating a copay that would be difficult to pay, he said. O’Rielly pitched a “much smaller increase,” but “that wasn’t in the cards, and the item was pulled.” Clyburn called the possible Dec. 1 change “a nightmare.”

O’Rielly doesn’t expect the current FCC to extend E-rate support off campus due to statutory limits, but it could be an option for Congress, he said. Some states want that change, given that the pandemic has forced remote learning (see 2011060047). “Whether a different commission under different makeup could go in a different direction, that’s for them to decide,” the Republican said. Clyburn replied, “A different administration will have different priorities.” She asked why there couldn't be an emergency waiver for off-campus broadband support. “Libraries are closed. They’ve got excess capacity. It is sitting idle. There is acute need elsewhere.”

“Stay tuned” for net neutrality to return in a Biden administration, said Clyburn. “The current administration changed course by overturning the 2015 rules. There is no reason in the world to expect that ... the administration coming in will not answer in kind.” Clyburn’s probably right, “if there is a new administration,” hedged O’Rielly. “The difficulty is it’s going to zap a lot of energy and time.”

O’Rielly takes Pai “at his word” that the chair will circulate a Section 230 proposal in coming weeks, he said. The FCC “has absolutely no role here,” said Clyburn, saying it’s “hypocritical” for the agency to consider regulating content after being so “fixated” on the Restoring Internet Freedom order. O’Rielly, who criticized regulating social media editorial policies shortly before Trump pulled his renomination (see 2008030074), replied, “I think that most of your ... comments weren’t faced to me.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) urged national broadband action, while acknowledging states’ limited jurisdiction. COVID-19 made clear how important affordable broadband access is, he said in a prerecorded message during NARUC’s opening session. “No school kids should be left behind” because they lack internet, he said.

“A community that can't connect can't compete,” and the pandemic showed how connectivity is one of people’s most important needs, said NARUC President Brandon Presley from the Mississippi Public Service Commission. The outgoing association head touted his broadband task force, which met Nov. 5 (see 2011050051), and the Telecom Committee earlier Tuesday establishing a subcommittee on states' eligible telecom carrier authority (see 2011100033).

Broadband providers should relax restrictions in low-income plans that may prevent families struggling during the pandemic from participating, Telecom Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson told NARUC. Households that can’t afford internet now, even with employed family members, or those previously able to pay face hurdles qualifying for lower-cost plans, said the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable commissioner.

NARUC elected Idaho Public Utilities Commissioner Paul Kjellander as its new president and chose other officers in its opening session. The group cleared a constitutional amendment to convert NARUC’s diversity subcommittee into a full committee and add the association president as a member.