President Joe Biden proposed to set a minimum 15% corporate tax rate to help pay for an infrastructure spending package as an informal counteroffer to Senate Republicans, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. Biden made the counterproposal during a Wednesday meeting (see 2106020078) with Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who's leading GOP negotiators. Biden also asked Republicans to back $1 trillion in new spending. Republicans propose $65 billion for broadband (see 2105270072), a figure the White House is offering to back. Capito’s office confirmed she plans to meet with Biden again Friday. Capito “is encouraged that negotiations have continued,” a spokesperson emailed. Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday she and Biden “are determined to get to 100%” broadband coverage via an infrastructure package. She helped announce NTIA’s plan to make nearly $1 billion available for tribal broadband (see 2106030065). Lawmakers “worked together” to fund broadband programs via the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid packages (see 2012210055) and now “Congress must work together again to bring high-speed Internet to every American,” she said. Other officials emphasized they want talks with Republicans on infrastructure to be completed by when the Senate returns Monday (see 2106010068).
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
Experts said Wednesday final details of broadband language in an infrastructure spending package will be crucial in determining whether it improves connectivity access and affordability. President Joe Biden plans to continue talks Friday with Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia amid what’s widely seen as the final week for talks with Senate Republicans aimed at reaching a deal (see 2106010068). Republicans continue to propose $65 billion for broadband as part of their counteroffer (see 2105270072), a figure the White House offers to back.
The White House is considering House Communications Subcommittee FCC detailee Parul Desai as a candidate for a third Democratic FCC seat, officials and lobbyists told us. Desai has been Communications’ FCC detailee since September 2019. She was previously FCC Enforcement Bureau Telecom Consumers Division deputy director, a Media Bureau Audio Division attorney adviser and the commission’s open internet ombudsperson right after its rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules took effect (see 1506150057). Desai was also a lawyer for Consumers Union and the Media Access Project. Her role as the ombudsperson is seen as a reason she’s in contention now. President Joe Biden’s eventual nominee for the third FCC Democratic slot is considered crucial to any effort to update net neutrality rules (see 2101060055). Biden also wants people of color in tech policy leadership roles, lobbyists said. Officials weren’t sure whether Desai has a better chance of getting the nod than others including DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith (see 2104280057). Biden faces pressure from Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats to announce nominees for FCC, FTC and NTIA vacancies. Desai and the White House didn’t comment Wednesday.
President Joe Biden proposed substantial budget increases Friday for the FCC, FTC and most tech-focused agencies within the Commerce and Justice departments for FY 2022, in documents released Friday. The administration proposed a smaller increase for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and would keep CPB's funding at $475 million.
President Joe Biden proposed substantial budget increases Friday for the FCC and FTC for FY 2022, in documents released Friday afternoon.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she’s eyeing a mid-June markup of the committee’s portion of an infrastructure legislative package, as Republicans and the White House talk about possible compromise. Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and other GOP leaders unveiled a revised counteroffer Thursday standing pat on $65 billion for broadband, as expected (see 2105250002).
The Commerce Department’s plan for implementing the pending U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) was one of the few tech and telecom policy matters that drew Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee members’ attention during a Wednesday hearing on President Joe Biden’s proposed FY 2022 Commerce Department budget. The administration in April proposed Commerce get $11.4 billion, up almost 28% from FY 2021 (see 2104090041). The administration is expected to release its full budget proposal Friday. Commerce is “hard at work putting together” its plans for implementing S-1260 if it’s enacted, Raimondo told Senate Appropriations Commerce Chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.: The measure would mean further expansion of Commerce’s scope on semiconductor and open radio access network matters, and the department has “expertise” in expanding to meet its mission. S-1260, previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, includes $52 billion to boost U.S. chipmaking and $1.5 billion to implement the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecom Act. The semiconductor money includes $49.5 billion to implement the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2105210056). The Senate was expected to continue considering amendments to S-1260 into Thursday, before a potential final vote that day on the measure. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday “there’s no reason we can’t finish this bill by the end of the week. That’s my intention.” Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., noted his desire for S-1260 to direct Commerce to enter into a National Academies of Science contract to provide updates on emerging tech, saying the U.S. “got caught behind on 5G.” Senate Appropriations Commerce ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., raised concerns about the department’s cybersecurity “shortcomings” given it was a federal agency affected by the Russia-linked SolarWinds hack (see 2012170050). He believes the budget needs to make the department’s “role in closing the digital divide” a priority given the increased importance of telework and remote learning during the pandemic. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., noted his concerns about the entire federal government’s “disjointed” cybersecurity apparatus.
Telecom-focused Democratic senators demurred Monday and Tuesday from criticizing President Joe Biden for offering to substantially reduce the proposed broadband spending request in his infrastructure counteroffer to Republicans (see 2105210056). They insisted in interviews that Biden’s revised plan, which lowered the proposed broadband money from $100 billion to $65 billion to align with an April GOP framework (see 2104220067), won’t hamstring efforts to enact an infrastructure package that contains a larger amount of connectivity funding via budget reconciliation if talks with Republicans collapse. Lobbyists and others we spoke with believe Biden’s shift doesn’t mean a higher figure won’t ultimately pass.
Vice President Kamala Harris and other White House officials remained hopeful Monday that a bipartisan deal on broadband and other infrastructure spending is possible, despite Senate Republicans’ negative reception for President Joe Biden’s latest revisions. The administration briefed Senate Republicans Friday on a revised proposal that lowered broadband spending from $100 billion to $65 billion to mirror an April GOP counteroffer (see 2105210056). During a Monday virtual White House event, Harris touted the plan's highlights.
The Biden administration said Thursday it expects deliberations over how to respond to Senate Republicans’ infrastructure counteroffer to continue into Friday, amid conflicting evaluations about prospects for a deal (see 2105190069). House Commerce Committee Republicans bowed the American Broadband Act to counter President Joe Biden’s proposal to spend $100 billion on broadband. The counterproposal includes $65 billion. More than 40 groups and companies launched the Broadband Equity for All coalition to press lawmakers to create a permanent federal broadband benefit program to succeed the FCC-administered $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program.