State, Local Leaders Hope Biden Boosts Federal Cooperation

State and local governments want to reset relationships with the FCC under President-elect Joe Biden in 2021, said officials from NARUC, NATOA and the National Association of State Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) in interviews this week. A new FCC means “new beginnings” and a chance to build bridges, said NARUC President Paul Kjellander, elected association head Tuesday (see 2011100060).

A Biden administration likely means a “return” to some telecom policies seen under President Barack Obama, though "to the extent that it requires congressional approval for some things to happen, that’s anybody’s guess,” said Kjellander, an elected Republican at the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. “One thing’s for certain: We’ll have a new look to the FCC.”

“The working relationship has been rugged over the last few years with the FCC,” said Kjellander, who earlier chaired the association’s telecom committee. The relationship “ought to improve.” He wants to “actualize the whole concept of cooperative federalism,” he said. “We talk about it -- and usually that’s all we do.” He hopes to set up a meeting in person or by Zoom, depending on the pandemic, soon after a new FCC chair is selected, he said. “I want to get past the conversations” and “pictures of family, and figure out how we can actually work together.”

Kjellander wouldn’t say NARUC's current position on net neutrality. He wants to review with current members the continued relevance of older NARUC resolutions, including 2014’s measure supporting Communications Act Section 706 and Title II as possible authorities (see 1407160024): “The average tenure of a commissioner is four years,” so advocacy positions need to reflect current membership, he said.

Commissioners can get involved in broadband conversations even if they don’t have specific regulatory authority, the NARUC president said. “States know what’s best for them.” Telecom is a key piece of everything members regulate, because all utilities need “more robust communications systems” to support new, bandwidth-intensive technologies, he said. “While I don’t regulate broadband specifically as a state regulator, I do regulate electric, natural gas and water utilities that may be looking at building some of their own systems or leasing systems and space for other providers, and those things are going to come back to me in the form of a rate case.”

Consumer Advocates

NASUCA hopes for “a greater partnership between the federal government and states,” said Telecom Committee Chair Regina Costa Wednesday during that association’s annual meeting.

Biden’s election adds momentum to broadband as utility, and NASUCA would “definitely support” reviving Title II regulation, said Costa. What Biden can do depends on Georgia Senate race results and what that means for control of Congress, cautioned Costa. There’s bipartisan agreement about “the importance of making sure everybody can communicate effectively during this pandemic,” which requires bringing broadband to unserved areas and people who can’t afford it, plus ensuring network reliability, she said.

States developed innovative broadband programs but need resources “to make them truly effective,” said Costa. Creating the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund was “nice, but it’s not nearly enough,” she said. She sees a chance to collaborate on revamping USF contribution, which has an unsustainable surcharge of nearly 30%. The incoming administration “seems to want to work cooperatively, and we hope that’s the case. We can revisit this without the rhetoric and the hyperbole and just get down to brass tacks about how to make universal service work the best for all Americans.”

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly slammed the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service as dysfunctional (see 2011100060) during a Tuesday panel at NARUC. The Republican is the board’s federal chair. “Commissioner O’Rielly is leaving, and I think people that have been involved in these issues a lot longer ... have a different view of it,” responded Costa. “Federal-state boards can be very effective. They are necessary under the Constitution and our statutory framework.”

Lowering phone rates for the incarcerated is one area where states and the current FCC cooperated, and Costa expects that to continue in the next administration. NARUC cleared a resolution this week (see 2011100033).

NASUCA will “look for opportunities to engage with the transition team and subsequent administration on issues of concern to utility, telecommunications and broadband consumers across all industries and we’ll be looking for partners with similar concerns and agendas to magnify our message,” emailed Executive Director David Springe. “As we work to overcome the COVID-19 virus and rebuild the economy, it is of paramount importance that consumers have affordable access to the utility and communication services they need.”

Local Inclusion

NATOA seeks “a commission that spends a little less time on assuming local governments are the roadblock and need to be preempted,” General Counsel Nancy Werner told us. “I would like local governments to be viewed as the partners that they’re trying to be.” Some of this FCC’s policy choices cut local governments out of the loop, she said.

NATOA President Brian Roberts hopes the next FCC reinvigorates the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. Roberts represented then-San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) during the Obama administration and early in the Trump era. Under Obama, Roberts saw “more of a two-way dialogue,” with cities raising some issues to the FCC. Under Trump, Chairman Ajit Pai tended to assign tasks to the committee, he said.

Roberts expects Biden to push for infrastructure modernization including broadband. The NATOA president hopes for more FCC focus on affordability and the Lifeline program. The pandemic shows how important that is for jobs, education and telehealth, he said. Focus on 5G and small cells isn’t leading to closing the digital divide quickly enough, said Werner.

Reversals of this FCC’s more controversial decisions for local governments, such as on small cells, are possible, said Werner. That’s “not necessarily just because of the new commission,” but because time will show the effectiveness of those policies and may warrant the FCC revisiting what didn’t work, she said. NATOA expects to be in touch with the new commission when its composition becomes clearer, Werner said.

The FCC didn’t comment.

NARUC Notebook

NARUC unanimously cleared telecom resolutions on lowering phone rates for the incarcerated and asking the FCC to share network outage reporting system information with states. The board Wednesday cleared the Telecom Committee-amended version of the inmate calling service resolution, which “draws attention to the ability of State legislatures and commissions to consider possible legislation and rulemakings so that State commissions can assure that inmate calls are cost-based.”

Congress should fund broadband mapping quickly and sufficiently, said telecom industry officials on a virtual panel Wednesday at NARUC’s annual meeting. The Senate’s appropriations package includes $15 million for implementing S-1822 (see 2011100041), but it’s “definitely going to cost more than that,” particularly to keep the map up to date over time, said USTelecom Vice President-Policy Lynn Follansbee. The FCC estimates it needs $65 million, and the government needs to get a budget by December, said Follansbee. “If that doesn’t happen” and a continuing resolution doesn’t include mapping money, the funding issue could get pushed to the new administration, she said. “We obviously think that would be unfortunate. They should get to it now.” Before the election, there was a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to get funding, noted Wireless ISP Association Vice President-Policy Louis Peraertz. If helping Americans deal with telework and distance learning during the pandemic is important to Biden, his administration and the new Congress should ensure there’s enough funding for broadband mapping, Peraertz said. USTelecom expects the FCC to issue another order on the map next month, Follansbee said. She doesn’t expect it to include a further notice raising additional questions, but if it does, that would go to the next FCC, she said. Broadband mapping is bipartisan, so the change in administrations shouldn’t have much effect, the official said. This commission may finish tying up “any last policy requirements for the data collection," said NCTA Associate General Counsel Jennifer McKee. "How it gets implemented,” including technical standards and the portal for entering data, will be “a lot of work for a new commission to take up to make sure this becomes a reality."

The next Congress and administration should fund electric utility broadband, urged National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Senior Director-Regulatory Brian O’Hara on a Wednesday panel at NARUC’s virtual meeting. Give the FCC credit for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, but it’s “not enough to get us there,” he said. Statutory barriers remain at the state level, he said.