Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., failed to gain unanimous consent to pass his bill (S-1945) to allow cameras in the U.S. Supreme Court. The majority whip asked to pass the bill under express procedures requiring unanimous consent on the Senate floor late Wednesday. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., objected because he said it “would be inappropriate” to pass it without a “full debate.” The Supreme Court’s decision last week not to allow recording of the upcoming healthcare arguments shows why passing legislation is so important, Durbin said. The high court won’t break its “antiquated tradition” even for a case with as much interest as healthcare, he said. “The most powerful court in the land is inaccessible to the public and shrouded in mystery.” Sessions said the justices have opposed opening the court to cameras and Congress should respect that opinion.
The International Trade Administration has issued its final affirmative antidumping duty determination on certain steel wheels from China (A-570-973), which reduces the AD rates for 12 producer exporters and maintains the China-wide AD rate of 193.54% found in the preliminary determination. This final determination, which is effective March 23, 2012, is expected to be implemented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection soon.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse will lead nearly 40 American businesses on a USDA trade mission to China during March 23-28, 2012. U.S. agricultural exports to China have grown more than 80 percent in the past three years. The USDA trade mission aims to help American businesses strike new deals, strengthen business ties, expand their markets, and support jobs for Americans, and is the largest USDA trade mission to date.
Cellphones don’t interfere with airplane navigational equipment, and leaving cellphones on during takeoffs and landings cannot crash airplanes, CellAntenna CEO Howard Melamed said in a written statement. “If this were truly the issue, we would know about it,” he said. “It’s ridiculous that Flight Attendants, who are not engineers, and have no knowledge of engineering make-up of planes, tell passengers to turn off their cell phone because it interferes with navigational equipment. It frightens passengers and it is unnecessary. If the FAA was right, and cell phones were dangerous, why would they even allow them on airplanes?” There are good reasons to power a phone down, he said: “It’s almost impossible to make a call above 3500 feet, let alone at cruising altitude,” and the phone on “will ultimately only drain battery as it tries to reach a tower with which it cannot communicate."
Nothing brings disparate interests together like the prospect of a six-month extension to comply with new FCC rules. Often at odds, post-paid wireline carriers, pre-paid wireless carriers and state commissions unanimously supported a waiver request by incumbent local exchange carriers to postpone until Oct. 1 the implementation of several rules established in the Lifeline Order -- as long as the waiver applies to everyone else, too. The petition, filed by USTelecom, the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, NTCA, OPASTCO, the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Eastern Rural Telecom Association, asked the FCC to waive the effective date of a new rule implementing a flat $9.25 Lifeline benefit and eliminating the Link-Up discount on non-Tribal lands from April 2 until Oct. 1 (CD March 12 p9).
On March 20-21, 2012 the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
The FCC cleared the way for more than 1,000 FM translator stations to go on-air in two items that also start work on an upcoming opportunity for tribes and community groups to seek new low-power stations on that band. An order and a rulemaking notice released Monday night appeared to largely track with drafts the Media Bureau circulated for a vote (CD Feb 9 p6), which commissioners approved as also expected (CD March 8 p12) before Wednesday’s agency meeting. The items said new rules for a 2003 application window for translators will expand the pool of construction permits issued from Auction 83 by 29 percent to 4,500 and possibly more. The next window for LPFM seekers to get permits for those stations may be the last, the commission said, asking about changes to some ownership rules.
Many low-power TV stations likely will be forced off-air by FCC actions meant to clear the way to auction full-power broadcast spectrum, LPTV executives and lawyers predicted. Fears are mounting about low-power stations losing channels altogether because there’s no space for them after the voluntary broadcast incentive auction the commission has 10 years to hold, or because they can’t afford to move to new spots on the TV dial, they said in interviews. Those concerns increased after President Barack Obama signed spectrum auction legislation Feb. 22 (CD Feb 24 p10) to pay for relocation costs for one class of low-power station that doesn’t protect most others from being moved against their will, executives said.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled Monday that the cities of Boston and Newton should refund $7.5 million in property taxes collected from Verizon New England. The court vacated a 2008 state Appellate Tax Board order that allowed the cities to levy taxes on phone poles and cables that pass over state-owned land. The court ruled that the cities acted prematurely in levying the taxes while the tax board’s order was under appeal. Based on the tax board ruling, the city of Boston had charged Verizon $5.3 million in property taxes from 2005 through 2009, while Newton charged $2.2 million for 2003 through 2008. Verizon filed suit in state court to challenge the board’s decision. A Massachusetts Superior Court judge issued a summary judgment in favor of the cities. The appeals court order overturned that ruling and agreed with Verizon that the additional assessment was improper because it’s not explicitly authorized by state law. The order also vacated the tax board’s order allowing taxation of Verizon poles and wires still under construction, but ruled that such taxation may be permissible under state law.
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t allow cameras into oral arguments about the national healthcare law, the court said Friday. The court has never allowed reporters to bring cameras or tape recorders inside the court, and won’t make an exception for the March 26-28 case, it said. However, SCOTUS will post audio recordings and transcripts the same day as the case on the court’s website, www.supremecourt.gov, it said. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been pushing to require cameras in the high court by law and approved such a bill (S-1945) in February (CD Feb 10 p3). Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., praised the court’s decision to expedite posting of audio recordings but said he'd rather the court permit cameras and have live audio streaming. “Decisions made at the Supreme Court impact the lives of millions of Americans,” Leahy said. “Just as Vermonters can follow the actions of their elected representatives in Washington on C-SPAN and through webcasts on the Internet, so, too, should they be able to follow the public proceedings of the highest court in the land.” Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, agreed: “Every American should have the opportunity to see and hear this landmark case as it plays out, not just the select few allowed in the courtroom.” C-SPAN will air the SCOTUS audio recordings as soon as they are released, it said Friday. But the cable network is “disappointed that the Court has rejected C-SPAN’s request for TV camera coverage of the oral arguments in this landmark case,” it said. “We continue to believe allowing video coverage of Supreme Court oral arguments is in the public’s best interest."