It's expected there needs to be significant changes to the text of the recently refiled Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act before S-1699 goes further in either chamber, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. The bill, first filed last Congress, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1906030068).
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
The direction of Capitol Hill's debate on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization remains uncertain after two hearings this week, said members of the Senate Commerce Committee and House Communications Subcommittee in interviews. Few Senate Commerce members revealed clear positions on renewal during a Wednesday hearing. Questions showed divisions in both parties. House Communications members registered a range of opinions during a Tuesday STELA panel (see 1906040057).
Talks on a compromise anti-robocall bill appear to be rapidly progressing, House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters Tuesday. “We may be in a good place” after “productive discussions” with House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., on a bill that combines elements from the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-946) and six other measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in April (see 1904300212). Walden previously said he wants a “safe harbor” provision to shield carriers if they follow the rules but block a call that isn't actually a robocall (see 1905150041). Pallone, Walden and House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, are speaking during a Tuesday USTelecom event on anti-robocall initiatives. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, FTC Chairman Joe Simons and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also are on the agenda. Thursday, commissioners vote on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default” and giving consumers the ability to block callers not on their contact list (see 1906030008). The Tuesday USTelecom program will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Capitol Visitors Center room SVC 201-00.
Few House Communications Subcommittee members took discernible positions on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization during a Tuesday hearing, amid observations of a clear divide among stakeholders. Three witnesses spoke in favor of some form of renewal, while NAB CEO Gordon Smith argued for expiration, as expected (see 1906030065). The panel was the House Commerce Committee's first review during this Congress on recertification of the statute, to expire Dec. 31 (see 1905280061). The Senate Commerce Committee plans a hearing Wednesday (see 1905290029).
The Copyright Office urged Congress not to reauthorize one of three major provisions in the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, adding another twist to the burgeoning debate over the law. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., announced they agreed to a “legislative framework” for a coming bill aimed at revamping retransmission consent rules and other “outdated" TV rules. Both announcements came a day before a planned Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing aimed at setting up its STELA debate (see 1905280061).
A push by 47 House Democrats for a “bipartisan working group” to create a compromise net neutrality bill has dim prospects despite offers of support from Commerce Committee GOP leaders, experts told us. The pro-working group Democrats, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Scott Peters of California, are pushing for a compromise bill. That's given what they view as low odds the House-passed Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) will clear the Senate or be signed into law by President Donald Trump (see 1905230072).
The House and Senate Commerce committees are likely to begin focusing on whether to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, during two upcoming hearings, but those panels will only be a first act in the debate, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Both committees are expected to have hearings during the first week of June on media market issues, seen as a way to set the stage for the STELA debate (see 1905150062 and 1905210071). Lawmakers' interest in talking about STELA has risen in recent months, particularly after Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called recertification of the statute a must-pass bill (see 1902270018 and 1903150045). The 2014 STELA renewal expires at the end of 2019.
House Commerce Committee GOP leaders latched on Thursday night to a push by a group of House Democrats for a “bipartisan working group” to create a compromise net neutrality bill. Lobbyists and officials told us the House Democrats' letter has drawn the behind-the-scenes ire of House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and other lawmakers who led the bid for House passage last month of the Save the Internet Act (HR-1644). That bill and Senate companion S-682 would reverse the FCC order rescinding its 2015 net neutrality rules and restore reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077). The House passed HR-1644 on an almost uniformly party-line 232-190 vote in which no Democrats defected to vote against it, though four didn't vote at all (see 1904100062). The Save the Internet Act faces dim prospects going forward between expectations it won't pass in the Senate and a promise by the OMB to recommend President Donald Trump veto the measure if it reaches his desk (see 1904080062 and 1904090045). Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a former senior FCC official under Chairman Julius Genachowski, and 46 other House Democrats said in a letter to the chamber's leaders they voted for HR-1644 “because it represented an opportunity to resolve questions that courts have struggled with for decades” on authority to make net neutrality policy, but the bill “is unlikely to become law … in its current form.” The signers include three House Communications members -- Tom O'Halleran of Arizona, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and HR-1644 co-sponsor Tony Cardenas of California. House Democrats seek a bipartisan working group similar to the one formed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. (see 1903120078), which could create “various models for legislation” that “could achieve our goals of providing strong, enforceable net neutrality protections for consumers.” Fight for the Future and other groups supportive of HR-1644 first publicized the letter but House Commerce Republicans also released it Thursday night. Republicans “have long said that a permanent, bipartisan legislative solution produced in good faith with our Democratic colleagues is the only way to protect consumers, innovation, and an open internet,” said House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden of Oregon, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta of Ohio and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington in a joint statement. “We welcome our colleagues’ engagement, and hope that a bipartisan working group can be a successful incubator for true bipartisan net neutrality legislation.” The three lawmakers led a trio of net neutrality bills they touted ahead of HR-1644's introduction as alternatives that didn't involve Title II reclassification (see 1902070056). FFTF and 31 other groups wrote House leaders, saying creating such a working group is effectively a bid to “abandon” HR-1644. That push “is extremely troubling, and an affront to the millions of Americans from across the political spectrum who rely on an open internet and have called on Congress to support strong net neutrality,” the groups wrote.
The Senate passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151) Thursday on a 97-1 vote, largely as expected (see 1905220049). Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., had aimed as recently as Wednesday to move the measure via unanimous consent (see 1904110066), but an objection from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., necessitated a roll call vote, lobbyists told us. Paul, the sole no vote, didn't comment. Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., didn't vote. S-151 and House companion HR-2015 would increase FCC authority, allowing the agency to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call when the caller intentionally flouts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The bill would extend to three years the window for civil enforcement. The agency also would be required to begin a rulemaking to help protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls or texts from callers using unauthenticated numbers (see 1901170039). Thune and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, S-151's lead Democratic co-sponsor, lauded the bill's passage during a news conference. “It's an example” of an issue “that we can come together on” and reach a bipartisan consensus, Thune said. “We hope” the House “will be able to pass” it, too. House Commerce Committee leaders are negotiating on a bipartisan anti-robocalls bill but none of the seven measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined during a late April hearing was HR-2015/S-151 (see 1904300212). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the Senate for clearing the bill, saying its grant of further powers to the FCC “like increased fines, longer statutes of limitations, and removing citation requirements which obligate us to warn some robocallers before penalizing them, will significantly improve our already strong robocall enforcement efforts.” Commissioner Brendan Carr believes the legislation would allow the FCC to “continue our crack down on these annoying calls.” Commissioners are set to vote during their June 6 meeting on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default” and giving consumers the ability to block callers not on their contact list. An accompanying Further NPRM will ask how caller ID authentication standards can help with call blocking (see 1905150041). Consumer Reports, NCTA, USTelecom and Verizon also praised Senate passage of S-151.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us the chamber's long-awaited passage of his Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act is imminent and could happen Wednesday night or Thursday depending on how soon the measure can clear hotlines of lawmakers. Thune has been aiming to move the measure via unanimous consent (see 1904110066). S-151, which cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in April (see 1904030078), would increase FCC authority, allowing the agency to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call when the caller intentionally flouts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The bill would extend to three years the window for civil enforcement. The agency also would be required to begin a rulemaking to help protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls or texts from callers using unauthenticated numbers (see 1901170039). Thune said his hopes for S-151 passage were buoyed by Senate Commerce's completion Tuesday night of a required report on the bill, a final step needed to bring it to the floor. Senate leadership then placed S-151 on the legislative calendar. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., meanwhile, are continuing to work toward a “single bipartisan bill” incorporating elements from a set of seven measures the House Communications Subcommittee examined in late April (see 1904300212), subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told reporters. “Everyone wants to move it.”