NTIA Stakeholders on Watch for Reauthorization Talk in House Hearing
NTIA stakeholders will watch a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee NTIA oversight hearing for any signs of lawmakers’ interest in pursuing legislation to revamp the agency, amid an uneven Senate appetite for such measures. NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, who has led NTIA for just over a month, is likely to face questions about his vision for the agency’s disbursal of connectivity money under its control from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and COVID-19 aid measures. The hearing is likely to also focus on the NTIA-FCC commitment to improve the two agencies’ coordination on spectrum policy (see 2202150001). The hearing will begin at noon EST. It’s House Communications’ first NTIA oversight hearing since 2018 (see 1803060048).
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NTIA has “a big job” ahead of it in distributing the $48 billion in broadband money from IIJA, so “I assume there’ll be a high level of interest in making sure that they’re up to that task” via legislation, said Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., in an interview. That’s something Congress can “deal with in a reauthorization process.” He and Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-S.D., have been pressing for committee action on their NTIA Reauthorization and Reform Act (S-3288), which would clarify the agency’s role in coordinating executive branch views on FCC matters and require periodic updates of the agencies’ memorandum of understanding.
Lawmakers “would be wise” to keep NTIA’s scope of authority constrained to broadband, spectrum and other policy issues already within the agency’s bailiwick, Thune said. “If they try to branch out into” matters like privacy policy, “it’s probably not going to be a good strategy in the long term. It’s going to be easier to” get a reauthorization through if it doesn’t try to address “issues that are very contentious.” House Commerce Democrats criticized GOP-led NTIA reauthorization proposals in 2018 for being too narrow in scope rather than giving the agency more of a role in cybersecurity, internet governance and IoT matters (see 1806260064).
House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, also noted interest in returning to NTIA reauthorization, and told us he believes the Wednesday hearing will help inform whether and how future renewal legislation should differ from the 2018 proposal. That legislation proposed creating the NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, which Congress later mandated as part of FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus law (see 2012210055).
“There’s a lot of things people have talked about” on “empowering the executive branch to have more oversight of broadband,” particularly in coordinating between the Commerce Department, FCC and Agriculture Department, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us: “There’s a lot of bipartisan support for that” because “a lot of us are frustrated that there’s not enough concentrated oversight within the executive branch on” those matters. She noted that issue came up during Davidson’s December confirmation hearing (see 2112010043) and expects to bring him back before the committee in the near future.
Senate Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., told us in December he strongly opposes pursuing an NTIA reauthorization now precisely because the agency is responsible for distributing $48 billion of IIJA’s $65 billion broadband allocation. Lujan is recovering from a stroke. “I certainly hope” Congress doesn’t try to change NTIA’s remit while it’s in the midst of disbursing that broadband money, Lujan said: “We instructed” NTIA already on how to proceed with handling those funds, including $42.5 billion for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) and $2.75 billion for digital equity programs, so the agency already has the “authorities” it needs.
NTIA “has a lot of work on its plate right now” and formally reauthorizing the agency “seems like a waste of time” since Congress repeatedly gave NTIA legislative instructions through other vehicles, said Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice: “It’s incumbent upon those calling for reauthorization to make the case on specific reasons why they need Congress to revisit” the issue, because even matters like S-3288’s proposed MOU update mandate are already happening.
S-3288 wouldn’t necessarily affect how NTIA disburses the IIJA money but would “raise the profile of NTIA” by promoting the administrator from assistant secretary of commerce-communications and information to a subcabinet-level undersecretary, said Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation broadband and spectrum policy director. “I think that’s something people would be interested in pursuing,” but it’s notable the measure hasn't gotten a Democratic co-sponsor. Congress “should continue to look at” mandating the MOU and other spectrum policy matters separate from S-3288.