The Trump transition's Jeff Eisenach cited Latino economic and demographic dynamism in a study Tuesday by NERA Economic Consulting, where he's managing director. "The US Latino population is growing, young, increasingly educated, employed, connected, entrepreneurial, and upwardly mobile in terms of income as well as consumption," said the study. It said: the Latino population grew from 22 million in 1990 to 57 million in 2015 and is considerably younger than the U.S. population average; Latinos are responsible for 29 percent of the growth in real income since 2005; are more likely to participate in the labor force; are more likely to be entrepreneurs; and accounted for 46 percent of U.S. employment growth 2011-15; with $1.3 trillion-plus in buying power. Eisenach is a member of President-elect Donald Trump's FCC landing team, along with fellow American Enterprise Institute scholars Mark Jamison and Roslyn Layton (see 1611210045, 1611280050, 1611230014 and 1611290022).
The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump named L Brands’ Mark Neuman as another landing team member for the Department of Commerce. Also named: new members to the teams for the Department of Transportation, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and others, said a news release this week.
The Trump transition's Jeff Eisenach cited Latino economic and demographic dynamism in a study Tuesday by NERA Economic Consulting, where he's managing director. "The US Latino population is growing, young, increasingly educated, employed, connected, entrepreneurial, and upwardly mobile in terms of income as well as consumption," said the study. It said: the Latino population grew from 22 million in 1990 to 57 million in 2015 and is considerably younger than the U.S. population average; Latinos are responsible for 29 percent of the growth in real income since 2005; are more likely to participate in the labor force; are more likely to be entrepreneurs; and accounted for 46 percent of U.S. employment growth 2011-15; with $1.3 trillion-plus in buying power. Eisenach is a member of President-elect Donald Trump's FCC landing team, along with fellow American Enterprise Institute scholars Mark Jamison and Roslyn Layton (see 1611210045, 1611280050, 1611230014 and 1611290022).
Sandwich Isles Communications faces $77 million in repayment duties and proposed fines from the FCC for violations and apparent violations of the USF high-cost program in Hawaii, with more repayments to come. The commission also ruled against SIC in a cost dispute with AT&T and the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) over an undersea cable. The agency noted Sandwich Isles has continuing obligations to its customers and can't discontinue telecom service without express authorization.
A chorus of conservative groups is telling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., not to accept a deal to reconfirm FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel this year. Congress remains in session for perhaps no longer than this week, and she will have to leave the agency if not reconfirmed this session. GOP holds have prevented her from advancing all year. The groups fear a deadlocked FCC under the incoming administration. A senior Senate Republican confirmed Monday that Republicans are seeking to wrap in a GOP commissioner reconfirmation.
A chorus of conservative groups is telling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., not to accept a deal to reconfirm FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel this year. Congress remains in session for perhaps no longer than this week, and she will have to leave the agency if not reconfirmed this session. GOP holds have prevented her from advancing all year. The groups fear a deadlocked FCC under the incoming administration. A senior Senate Republican confirmed Monday that Republicans are seeking to wrap in a GOP commissioner reconfirmation.
The NAB will look to the next FCC to reverse media ownership rules instead of the courts, said a petition for reconsideration filed with the commission Thursday. NAB already had filed a court challenge of the 2014 quadrennial review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but it filed a motion to withdraw that petition for review Friday. The decision to pursue the matter at the FCC indicates NAB believes the upcoming Republican-controlled FCC will be more sympathetic to the association’s arguments than the courts, a possibility that was foreseen by some broadcast attorneys following the case (see 1611090061). “This is not a surprise,” said Georgetown University Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represents Prometheus Radio Project in its court challenge of the media ownership rules. Nexstar Broadcasting and Connoisseur Media also filed recon petitions with the FCC against aspects of the media ownership rules.
The Department of Homeland Security’s 1,400 radiation portal monitors at U.S. ports of entry are 100 percent operational and can function beyond their estimated service life, until at least 2030, as long as they are properly maintained and spare parts remain available, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Nov. 30 (here). DHS started planning for replacing the entire fleet in fiscal 2014 and 2015, as the monitors began to reach the end of their estimated 13-year service life, but the department in 2016 changed to a selective replacement policy, entailing the use of monitors upgraded with new alarm threshold settings or buying “enhanced, commercially available” monitors to gain operational efficiencies and reduce labor requirements at some ports, GAO said. During fiscal years 2016-2018, DHS plans to replace about 120 monitors along the northern border with upgraded units, and from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2020, intends to replace monitors that can’t be upgraded with new alarm thresholds at northern land border crossings with existing upgraded inventory, the report says.
The FCC Wireless Bureau is plugging away on many spectrum, auction and other matters despite the lull in FCC action on controversial major items during the presidential transition, said Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins at an FCBA event Tuesday. Wilkins, joined by other officials, said the bureau is moving ahead with work aimed at fostering deployment of 5G wireless infrastructure and other proceedings. "There's a lot of stuff that's going on," he said. "There are some bigger items that are midstream that aren’t necessarily teed up for a decision real soon." The latest spectrum frontiers proceeding aimed at using high-frequency bands is such an item, he said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau is plugging away on many spectrum, auction and other matters despite the lull in FCC action on controversial major items during the presidential transition, said Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins at an FCBA event Tuesday. Wilkins, joined by other officials, said the bureau is moving ahead with work aimed at fostering deployment of 5G wireless infrastructure and other proceedings. "There's a lot of stuff that's going on," he said. "There are some bigger items that are midstream that aren’t necessarily teed up for a decision real soon." The latest spectrum frontiers proceeding aimed at using high-frequency bands is such an item, he said.