Senate Commerce Committee leaders hadn’t resolved a longstanding disagreement Thursday night over how hoped-for compromise spectrum legislative language would structure repurposing parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for commercial 5G use, a hurdle that could derail a bid to attach the proposal to an FY 2023 omnibus appropriations measure (see 2212070068). Those leaders made progress on some parts of the measure, including moving closer on amounts of spectrum auction revenue they will allocate to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and finance next-generation 911 tech upgrades.
House Communications Subcommittee leaders are monitoring from afar Senate Commerce Committee negotiations on a potential compromise spectrum measure with an eye on the legislative clock as they question if a viable alternative to the existing Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) is achievable amid the jam-packed lame-duck session. Fraught talks are underway aimed at reaching a deal on an FY 2023 appropriations omnibus package seen as a potential vehicle for passing spectrum legislation and allocating new funding for two bipartisan telecom priorities: the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and next-generation 911 tech upgrades. Hill leaders released a compromise version of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act Tuesday without language authorizing funding for the telecom priorities (see 2212070056).
House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., confirmed she's "looking forward to the opportunity to serve" as subpanel ranking member in the next Congress, as expected (see 2211170089). She would succeed current lead Democrat Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, who's retiring at the end of this Congress (see 2111120002). "I’m proud of what Democrats have been able to accomplish" on House Communications over the last four years "and I look forward to building on that progress," Matsui said in a statement to us. "I've fought for policies that create a more inclusive digital economy while encouraging innovation and job growth. That means increasing access to reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband for all families and introducing" the Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act (HR-8573/S-4676) to "guarantee a free and open internet through strong net neutrality protections." She has "worked to secure American telecommunications networks" as a co-sponsor of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act "to rip and replace vulnerable Chinese equipment and promoting the deployment of open and interoperable communications technology." Matsui also cited her role as lead House Democratic sponsor of the original Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act as "lifeline and a down payment on future innovation."
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., confirmed to us this week they intend to stay in their respective roles in the 118th Congress. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said during a Thursday webinar he believes there will be relative continuity in the House and Senate Commerce panels’ leadership. That continuity contrasted with top-level turnover in House Democratic leadership after Thursday announcements by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland that they will step down from top party roles after this Congress.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., led filing Thursday of the Digital Equity Foundation Act to create a nonprofit foundation to disburse funding for digital equity, inclusion and literacy projects and support related activities. The measure mirrors parts of an earlier Airwaves for Equity proposal to endow a digital equity foundation using future FCC spectrum auction revenue (see 2202230058) but doesn’t mention a specific funding source. The foundation would “supplement, but not supplant,” existing NTIA and FCC connectivity funding programs, including ones Congress created via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Lujan’s office cited the success of other congressionally established nonprofits, saying they were a way of leveraging public-private partnerships. “Critically, this legislation also ensures” the decision-makers who created the nonprofit “will consist of experts that reflect the diverse communities that are in need of these investments, who will work closely with federal agencies to support and uplift digital equity-focused programs,” Lujan said. “This legislation will jumpstart us down the road to lasting digital equity and inclusion nationwide,” Matsui said. Without “sustained investments in digital adoption and inclusion efforts at the community level, the huge new investments in broadband infrastructure and affordability won’t close the digital divide,” said New America’s Open Technology Institute Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese: “A Digital Equity Foundation dedicated to this work and, if possible, funded by future spectrum auctions, will provide a sustainable way to address the broadband adoption side of the digital divide.” Lujan’s office cited support from 10 other public interest groups, including the American Library Association, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition.
House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui and Rep. Anna Eshoo, both D-Calif., led a Friday push with eight other Democrats for Biden administration officials Friday to use Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to collocate broadband and electric vehicle charging infrastructure buildouts. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which gets $5 billion in IIJA, "requires state agencies deploying EVs to have a connected charger network to facilitate data collection, accessibility, and reliability," the lawmakers wrote Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. "These connectivity requirements for EV charging infrastructure often require broadband access, which can be sparse in remote areas. To meet the 97 percent reporting standards of the NEVI Formula Program, stakeholders and agencies must address the broadband access challenges in rural and underserved communities." Digital equity "disparities exist in areas where access to broadband is non-existent or unaffordable and disproportionately affects rural areas and communities of color," the lawmakers said: IIJA "acknowledged these disparities and provided $65 billion for broadband expansion, including grants for internet service expansion in unserved and underserved areas."
Democratic leaders on the House and Senate Commerce committees aren’t fully discounting the possibility the panels could devote some time to evaluating the newly filed Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act during the remaining months of this Congress, but some acknowledge any serious consideration of the measure will likely have to wait until 2023 at the earliest. Democratic leaders bristled at some Republicans’ view that lawmakers unveiled the measure as a reaction to FCC nominee Gigi Sohn’s stalled Senate confirmation process (see 2206230066).
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., plan to file the Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act Thursday, as expected (see 2207180063), Markey’s office confirmed Wednesday. House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., is expected to file the lower chamber's companion version. The measure would reinstate the FCC’s 2015 reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. It “appropriately classifies internet as an essential service" and brings back the FCC’s “rightful authority to reinstate net neutrality protection, including prohibiting discriminatory" practices "like blocking, throttling and paid prioritization online,” Markey’s office said in a statement. The bill’s sponsors plan a 2:30 p.m. Thursday news conference and a 5:30 p.m. Reddit Ask Me Anything session to publicize its introduction.
The House Commerce Committee voted 53-2 Wednesday to advance bipartisan, bicameral privacy legislation to the floor (see 2207190040). Some California Democrats criticized the strength of the bill, saying they may not support the measure on the floor. Some questioned whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will bring the legislation up.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., plan to file their Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act before the start of the Senate August recess in a bid to renew Democrats’ push for legislation to restore the FCC’s rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules. The measure, which was circulating in draft form Monday, would reinstate the FCC’s 2015 reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., is leading work on a House companion, lobbyists told us. Markey and Wyden are prioritizing the bill now because of the Senate’s stalled confirmation process for FCC nominee Gigi Sohn (see 2206230066), which has meant the tied 2-2 commission hasn’t been able to proceed on any matter that's unlikely to get the support of at least one of the two GOP commissioners, lobbyists said. “It is more clear than ever that broadband internet is an essential utility,” a Markey spokesperson emailed. Markey “firmly believes” the FCC’s “authority should reflect that, so it can fulfill its obligations to the public by reinstating net neutrality rules, protecting consumers, and taking other critical steps to create a just digital future.” The FCC’s “rollback of net neutrality” under former Chairman Ajit Pai “was a huge loss for competition and privacy,” a Wyden spokesperson said. Wyden “still believes that net neutrality is the foundation of an open internet that works for everyone -- not just Big Cable and big incumbents.” Congress “should pass the Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act and confirm Gigi Sohn to the FCC without further delay,” said Free Press Vice President-Policy Matt Wood in a statement. “It’s time for Senate leadership to end this senseless delay and get the agency back to full capacity.” It “was only during the Trump administration that the FCC … disavowed any authority to fulfill its congressional mandate to ensure all Americans have access to communications services,” said Public Knowledge Director-Government Affairs Greg Guice. “This legislation is more than just a bill for net neutrality. It will reinstate” the FCC “with the authority to promote policies to help consumers access broadband … as well as promote competition and public safety while strengthening the resiliency of these networks during disasters.” U.S. “broadband customers have waited far too long for Congress to step up and codify the important net neutrality principles that broadband providers already follow today,” said USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter. “But let’s be clear: any such legislation cannot and must not be a backdoor for government to regulate prices and degrade the consumer internet experience.” Any “potential government effort to regulate prices under the cover of net neutrality would hurt consumers, slow investment and stifle competition,” he said.