FCC Reauthorization Legislation 'Could Get Sidetracked,' Thune Says
FCC reauthorization legislation may not land on the Senate Commerce Committee’s July markup agenda, after all, Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us Thursday. He wrote the legislation and has sought to reach bipartisan consensus with ranking member Bill…
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Nelson, D-Fla. But Nelson underwent surgery Monday for prostate cancer and is recovering this week. “It could get pushed because of Senator Nelson’s absence, but we’ll see,” Thune said of FCC reauthorization. “We’re hoping, we’ve been trying to close the loop on some of the issues that have been outstanding but we’ve got a pretty good sense of where we want to go. And it’s just a question of getting the Dems on board. So we’re still working. It could get sidetracked a little bit. But we’ll see.” Both Thune and Nelson have told us in recent weeks that they are hopeful the unreleased FCC reauthorization bill, which addresses process and transparency issues at the agency, would make it on the July agenda. No July markup has been announced as of our deadline. Thune said last week items are “being finessed” (see 1507080048), primarily dealing with a provision on FCC rulemakings deemed economically significant, and Nelson suspected following the June markup the item would come up in July (see 1506300050).