Free-Market Coalition Urges Senate Not to Block Overdue Reforms
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, a coalition of free-market groups focused on technology policy urged the Senate not to create a stalemate on the Federal Communications Commission. Doing so would significantly delay long-overdue reforms of the agency, and could even cause Congress to miss a narrow window in which to make such reforms permanent through bipartisan legislation.
The letter urges Senate leaders to vote on the renomination of Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as early as possible in the new Congress, along with reconfirming Republican Ajit Pai and confirming a third Republican Commissioner — but not to reconfirm her now in the lame duck. Doing so would, at a minimum, ensure a 2-2 deadlock on the Commission well into 2017. If Chairman Wheeler ultimately fails to resign, it would allow Democrats to maintain control through June. Either way, the Commission would be paralyzed.
“‘Elections have consequences’, as Chairman Wheeler himself crowed last summer,” said Berin Szóka, President of TechFreedom, quoting Wheeler. “The American people ‘have chosen their path,’ and Republicans have every right to take control of the FCC on Inauguration Day. This isn’t partisanship, it’s simply democracy at work. Wheeler should, like nearly all FCC chairmen before him in this situation, resign on or before Inauguration Day. This will allow the acting Republican chairman to begin fixing the FCC’s broken processes. That includes starting the public comment cycle on institutional reforms that require lengthy notice and comment. If Wheeler hangs on, history will remember him as a hardened obstructionist and, worse, a hypocrite.”
The coalition letter declares:
Any deadlock could significantly delay the lengthy and complex process of FCC reform. The window for legislative action before the midterm elections will be far shorter than most realize. Congress will not really be able to take up the issue in earnest until the FCC’s new Republican chairman has had an opportunity to begin voting out his agenda. Having waited two decades to pick up where the 1996 Telecom Act left off, we simply cannot afford to miss this narrow window for reform.
“Commissioner Rosenworcel should absolutely be returned to the Commission, but not until a third Republican can be added,” continued Szóka. “This is not to slight Rosenworcel at all. Despite our vast differences on policy matters, we have respected her integrity and independence. But there is simply no way to reconfirm her now without creating an imbalanced or deadlocked commission.”
“The Federal Trade Commission shouldn’t be forgotten in this shuffle,” concluded Szóka. “Like Wheeler, Chairman Ramirez should resign by Inauguration Day and the new President and the Senate should quickly fill all three vacancies to bring the FTC up to full strength. That’s especially important because broadband regulation will soon be returned to the FTC, where it belongs. The FTC will be even more clearly the Federal Technology Commission.”
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We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See our other work on Internet regulation, including:
Our research agenda outlining how governments at all levels can ease broadband deployment
Our Medium post, “Law & Economics Experts Should Replace Brill, Wright at FTC”
Our petition to appeal the DC Circuit Court’s decision upholding Open Internet Order
Our Medium post, “FCC Loses Key Muni Broadband Case”
About TechFreedom:
TechFreedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.
FCC Reform Bill Would Shed Light on Opaque Process
Yesterday, the House, by a voice vote, approved legislation to make the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) more transparent, efficient, and accountable. Among other reforms, the bill would increase public transparency of items before the Commission by eliminating the pernicious practice of placing large amounts of information into the record on the last day of the public comment period.
The bill would also amend the Sunshine Act to allow more than two Commissioners to meet privately after the comment period ends in the weeks leading up to a vote, facilitating candid conversation and, ideally, resulting in less politicized votes. Previously, in the run-up to a vote, Commissioners could communicate only through staffers or on a one-on-one basis.
In an effort to get bipartisan support, Republicans agreed to water down a provision that would have required the FCC to publish all final rules 30 days before voting on them. Instead, the bill merely requires the FCC to launch a proceeding to examine whether such early publication is feasible and prudent. The bill will be discussed at today’s Congressional FCC oversight hearing.
“The FCC reform bill is very good news for consumers even though it was watered down in order to get bipartisan support,” said Tom Struble, Policy Counsel for TechFreedom. “For too long, the FCC has operated as a Star Chamber, proceeding in secret and hiding critical information from public view. This reform bill sheds new light on agency proceedings its passage bodes well for a long overdue update of the Communications Act, including a broadband deployment package and a legislative end to the decade-long partisan tangle over net neutrality.”
We are available for comment at [email protected], and see our other work on FCC Process, especially:
“FCC Reform Bills Miss the Mark,” a statement from TechFreedom
Coalition letter warning against the FCC’s increasing politicization
“FCC Chairman Invokes Nuclear Option, Bypasses Commissioners on Key Decisions,” a statement from TechFreedom
Coalition letter against Title II signed by a broad array of policy groups across the political spectrum, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee will markup several bills regarding process and transparency at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition to a discussion draft authored by Subcommittee Chairman Walden, ranking member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the Subcommittee will consider six other draft bills, with three each coming from either side of the aisle.
TechFreedom and the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) sent a joint letter to ranking members on the Committee and Subcommittee urging them to consider additional measures to address the FCC’s increasingly unconstrained discretion.
The letter opens:
We commend those members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from both parties who have proposed bills to increase transparency and accountability at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Such reforms are badly needed, and the proposed changes would help to greatly improve the current situation.
But welcome as they are, none of the proposed reforms goes to the real problem: the FCC’s increasingly unconstrained discretion. While the reforms may help to raise the political costs of agency actions that are unwise or push the boundaries of its legal authority, vague threats of oversight and censure are too unreliable to offer the certainty and humility that regulated industries require for investment and innovation to flourish.
“The draft bills contain some worthwhile reforms, but unfortunately several key provisions are still missing,” said Tom Struble, Legal Fellow at TechFreedom. “Constraints on the FCC’s transaction review process that were included in a 2012 bill have been omitted, leaving the FCC free to continue manipulating its process to extract ‘voluntary’ conditions outside its legal authority — and typically without judicial oversight. We’re also urging Congress to require the FCC to conduct cost-benefit analysis to justify all economically significant actions, as is currently required of executive branch agencies.”
We are available for comment at [email protected], and see our other work on FCC Process, especially:
Coalition letter warning against the FCC’s increasing politicization
“FCC Chairman Invokes Nuclear Option, Bypasses Commissioners on Key Decisions,” a statement from TechFreedom
Coalition letter against Title II signed by a broad array of policy groups across the political spectrum, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
