The House Commerce Committee moved forward with a Wednesday hearing on the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-2741) despite the simultaneous torpedoing of talks between President Donald Trump and top Capitol Hill Democrats on a plan to pay for additional spending on broadband and other infrastructure projects. HR-2741 would allocate $40 billion for broadband projects, offer $12 billion in grants for implementing next generation-911 technologies and $5 billion for federal funding of a loan and credit program for broadband projects. Democrats first filed the bill in 2017 (see 1706020056).
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 House Commerce Committee is set to get dueling feedback from communications sector stakeholders Wednesday on broadband provisions in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-2741). The bill, refiled last week, would allocate $40 billion for broadband projects, $12 billion in grants for implementing next-generation 911 technologies and $5 billion for a loan and credit program for broadband projects. Democrats first filed the bill in 2017 (see 1706020056). The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Capitol Hill's debate on whether to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act appears likely to heat up further during the first week of June, with House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., telling reporters he is eyeing a media marketplace hearing for that period. The Senate Commerce Committee is already considering June 5 as the date for its long-expected media market hearing, widely seen as a way to set up that committee's STELA debate (see 1905150062). A hearing could happen during “the first week of June, although I don't think we have an exact date set yet,” Doyle said Tuesday. That hearing won't “be limited” to any particular subset of STELA and media market issues because the law is currently set to sunset at the end of the year. The House Judiciary Committee also has STELA jurisdiction but its reauthorization debate is currently on the backburner amid the panel's concentration on probing President Donald Trump's administration, said ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga. “I wish our committee would get back” to tackling issues like STELA. He said he currently favors some form of recertification of the law but “there's probably going to be some discussion on changes as well.” Collins and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., wrote the heads of AT&T's DirecTV and Dish Network in March on how their subscribers would be affected if Congress allowed the law to sunset (see 1903260065). Both providers sidestepped giving the committee leaders specific information on how many of their subscribers would be affected by an end of current STELA rules (see 1904250061).
President Donald Trump Wednesday handed down a long-awaited executive order addressing use of technologies by foreign companies in U.S. communications networks (see 1812270037). The Commerce Department is to issue interim regulations in 150 days and will seek comment, administration officials told reporters. Speaking on condition they not be identified, they stressed that the order is “country agnostic” and doesn’t specifically address Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei or the Chinese government.
The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing June 5 as the date for its long-expected media market hearing, communications sector lobbyists and officials told us. The hearing is widely seen as a way to set up the committee's debate on whether to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (see 1903150045). The 2014 recertification extended the statute through the end of 2019 (see 1411200036). Senate Commerce originally eyed a March date for the hearing but encountered scheduling conflicts, which also prevented them from holding the panel before the coming weeklong Memorial Day recess (see 1904230069). NCTA CEO Michael Powell and NAB CEO Gordon Smith are likely to be among the witnesses, lobbyists told us. The committee didn't comment Wednesday.
House Communications Subcommittee Democrats criticized FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on a range of actions during a Tuesday hearing. That fulfilled expectations House Commerce Committee's oversight of the majority-GOP commission would be more critical since Democrats gained a majority in the chamber (see 1905140060). Lawmakers' ire was tempered by other communications policy interests. Top House Communications members used the hearing as a venue to float legislative proposals on broadband infrastructure, C-band spectrum reallocation and 911 fee diversion.
Senate Judiciary Committee leaders expressed alarm during a Tuesday hearing about the rising leadership of Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei and other Chinese government-backed entities over deployments of 5G technology overseas and the U.S.' failure thus far to halt their momentum. 5G security and related policy questions about the technology have repeatedly drawn Capitol Hill interest this year, including at a Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the FY 2020 budgets of the FCC and FTC (see 1905070072). It's also expected to come up during the House Communications Subcommittee's Wednesday FCC oversight hearing (see 1905140060).
House Communications Subcommittee Democrats' widely expected airing of grievances against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai at a Wednesday oversight hearing is likely to be tempered by their interest in a range of telecom policy priorities and subcommittee Republicans' bid to deflect some of their colleagues' ire, officials and lobbyists told us. The hearing, which also includes the other four commissioners, will be the subcommittee's first on oversight of the agency since Democrats gained a majority in the chamber after the November elections. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The House Task Force on Rural Broadband is a positive step toward improving internet connectivity in unserved areas of the U.S., but will need to come up with concrete legislative recommendations to be an effective policy player, communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., led formation of the group, which he announced Monday. President Donald Trump in late April agreed with top congressional Democrats to pursue $2 trillion in spending on broadband and other infrastructure projects (see 1904300194). The task force is one of several Capitol Hill pushes on broadband legislation, though some remain skeptical about the prospects for an overarching infrastructure funding bill.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., confirmed Wednesday his office is in talks with Reps. Susan Brooks of Indiana and Tim Walberg of Michigan to be the lead Republican co-sponsors of a to-be-refiled version of the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act. The bill, filed during the last Congress, aims to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for wireless industry purchase via an FCC auction (see 1802070054). Brooks and Walberg separately told us they haven't made a decision on co-sponsoring. Walberg already was believed to be a potential contender (see 1904230069). Then-House Communications Vice Chairman Leonard Lance of New Jersey was the bill's lead Republican sponsor last Congress but lost his bid for re-election in November. Refiling appears likely to be “pushed back a little bit,” behind other legislative priorities, Doyle said. The bill's timeline already had been delayed, though Doyle and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., insisted it's not on an indefinite hold (see 1903270071). Some have said the delay is due to a push for the wireless and cable industries to reach consensus on C-band language.