House Communications Subcommittee leaders diverged on approaches to net neutrality legislation, during the State of the Net conference Tuesday. Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., staked out a partisan agenda on that and other telecom policy issues. Ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, emphasized the need for continued bipartisanship on the House Commerce Committee as the GOP settles into its new role as the minority party. Their comments came ahead of House hearings on net neutrality and T-Mobile's proposed purchase of Sprint, which also got attention Tuesday (see 1901290040).
The House Communications Subcommittee looks set to hold its net neutrality hearing Feb. 7, a Capitol Hill official told us Monday night. House Commerce Committee Democratic members have been considering possible legislation to restore the FCC's 2015 rules, including classification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1901100001).
The House Commerce and Judiciary committees set a Feb. 13 hearing on T-Mobile's proposed purchase of Sprint, as expected (see 1901250004). That confirmed what communications sector lobbyists told us earlier Monday. The House Communications and House Judiciary's Antitrust subcommittee will jointly conduct the hearing, which will include testimony from Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure and T-Mobile CEO John Legere. The merger "would combine two of the four largest wireless carriers and the carriers with the largest numbers of low-income customers," said Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., in a news release. "We must hold this hearing to examine the effects on important issues like jobs, costs to consumers, innovation and competition." The hearing is "good news,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis in an interview. PK expects the committees would have a “full and serious discussion on the implications of the merger. We want Congress to help promote that discussion and raise concerns about issues and ask important questions of stakeholders.” The group was among 14 that wrote House Commerce and Judiciary Democratic leaders in November urging the hearing (see 1811280071). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and 12 other House lawmakers wrote Friday night in support of T-Mobile/Sprint. Both agencies should “carefully examine all dimensions of competition” in the communications market, “including investment, innovation, spectrum resources, the evolving nature of the wireless industry, and the prospect of expanded broadband deployment,” they wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim.
The House Commerce Committee will step into the messaging battle about the ongoing partial government shutdown next week via a planned Jan. 31 hearing aimed at examining the shuttering's effects on federal agencies under the committee's jurisdiction, which include the FCC and FTC, Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said during a Thursday committee meeting. House Commerce is working to schedule an expected net neutrality hearing for February. It’s also considering a joint hearing with the House Judiciary Committee to examine T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint, lobbyists said.
The House Communications Subcommittee is aiming to hold its first net neutrality hearing during the first two weeks of February, Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told reporters Tuesday. Some Republicans are interested in exploring legislation that would be patterned on existing state-level net neutrality actions, to forestall potential Democratic legislation that would aim to reinstate FCC 2015 rules. Entities that lobbied on net neutrality in Q4 decreased from the same period in 2017.
Sprint and Twitter reported significant increases in their Q4 lobbying spending at our deadline Tuesday, while Qualcomm said its expenditures dropped slightly from the same period a year earlier. Many other tech and telecom stakeholders hadn't yet reported their own spending figures, but some outside lobbyists reported receiving fees from them. The deadline to file lobbying spending reports for Q4 was Tuesday.
The partial government shutdown appears to have slowed but not completely stalled White House plans to revive an infrastructure legislative package this year (see 1810100049), lawmakers and communications lobbyists told us. Officials in President Donald Trump's administration are considering whether to mention a revised infrastructure proposal in his State of the Union message. Communications interests hope for a return to focus on infrastructure legislation, particularly a robust broadband title, given perceptions it's an area of potential bipartisan agreement (see 1811130011).
The Senate Commerce Committee is delaying a 5G hearing (see 1901090055) because it's likely to include testimony from officials from executive agencies “who would like to be adequately” briefed by staff but can't be during the partial government shutdown, Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters Wednesday. Wicker declined to name the potential government witnesses. “They could attend, but in deference to them, I think they should be as ready with staff support as we committee members are,” he said. Wicker earlier told us he hoped the hearing would include discussion about “how [the U.S.] stacks up against other nations” in deploying 5G tech and how Congress can help industry speed deployments. Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, meanwhile, told us he isn't planning to immediately refile his Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act while he evaluates how to potentially revise it. The bill, filed last Congress, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063). It faced state and local opposition.
The ongoing partial government shutdown is affecting Capitol Hill's ability to conduct oversight of the FCC, a problem that will grow more acute in coming weeks if it continues, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Most FCC activities have been curtailed during the shuttering. Commission lawyers asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday to postpone a Feb. 1 oral argument on Mozilla v. FCC, which challenges rescission of the 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1901150011).
The House Commerce Committee's leadership structure for the 116th Congress was all but completed Tuesday, with leaders announcing picks for the chairmen and ranking members of Communications and five other subpanels. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., will chair House Communications, as expected (see 1811020048), said committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., named Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, Communications ranking member, also as expected (see 1811070054). Commerce leaders named Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Consumer Protection Subcommittee chairwoman and ranking member, also as expected (see 1901040043). Pallone named Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Commerce vice chair. “After eight years serving in the minority, I’m excited for the opportunity to set the Committee’s agenda on these issues -- rather than just playing defense,” Doyle said. As Communications ranking member, “I’ll be able to advocate for policies that will help consumers, grow our economy, and spur innovation,” including to expand deployment of 5G and broadband, Latta said. “As technology, data, privacy, cybersecurity, & other issues continue to dominate the future of our economy, I’m ready to drive the policy discussions about these complex and important topics,” McMorris Rodgers tweeted. House Commerce Democrats unveiled their full membership list for the subcommittees. Communications will have 18 Democrats, including new Commerce members Donald McEachin of Virginia, Tom O'Halleran of Arizona, Darren Soto of Florida and Marc Veasey of Texas. Existing Commerce Democrats Tony Cardenas of California, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Kurt Schrader of Oregon are also joining Communications. The roster indicates previous House Communications Democrats Eliot Engel of New York, Raul Ruiz of California and Bobby Rush of Illinois have left the subcommittee for this Congress. Consumer Protection will have 14 Democratic members, including Soto, Veasey and fellow incoming committee members Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Robin Kelly of Illinois. The House Republican Steering Committee selected Greg Gianforte of Montana as Commerce's one new GOP member, Walden said.