Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., filed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (Safe) Advertising Act Tuesday in a bid to allow broadcasters to air ads for cannabis and hemp products if a station is licensed in a state where such products are legal. The House passed an FY 2023 omnibus appropriations package that includes funding for the FCC, FTC and Agriculture Department rural broadband programs (HR-8294) earlier this month with language barring the FCC from revoking or otherwise conditioning a broadcaster’s license because it airs ads for cannabis products (see 2206270061). The Safe Advertising Act mirrors the HR-8294 language’s intent in an expanded form. “As more states enact common-sense cannabis legislation, it’s crucial that radio and TV stations can accept advertising without fear of losing their license,” Lujan said. “With health and safety measures in place, this legislation will allow broadcasters to accept cannabis advertisements in accordance with” state laws. “Due to outdated government regulations, only local radio and television broadcasters face legal exposure for advertising cannabis products permitted under state law,” said NAB President Curtis LeGeyt. The Safe Advertising Act “would finally level the playing field and create necessary regulatory certainty for broadcasters.” New York State Broadcasters Association President David Donovan and New Mexico Broadcasters Association President Paula Maes praised the measure in statements circulated by the pro-cannabis ad group Safe Advertising Coalition.

The House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday under suspension of the rules on the Spectrum Innovation Act legislative package (HR-7624), as expected (see 2207180067), the office of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Friday. The chamber will also consider two other telecom bills the Commerce Committee cleared earlier this month: the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-4990) and Safe Connections Act (HR-7132). HR-4990 would provide statutory authority for ITS’ role in managing NTIA’s telecom and spectrum technology programs. HR-7132 and Senate-passed companion S-120 would let domestic abuse survivors separate a mobile phone line from a shared plan involving their abusers without penalties or other requirements and require the FCC to establish rules that ensure calls and texts to domestic abuse hotlines don’t appear on call logs (see 2203180070). The HR-7624 version House Commerce advanced would extend the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through March 31, 2024, and authorize a 3.1-3.45 GHz auction with some sales proceeds allocated to pay for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and additional funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2207130066). Hoyer’s office also confirmed plans (see 2207210063) to vote as soon as Wednesday on the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act (HR-4040).

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., filed the Uncap America Act Thursday in a bid to “prohibit predatory data caps” on U.S. broadband services by restricting ISPs to impose limits only for “reasonable” network management purposes. The measure would direct the FCC to promulgate rules defining when a data cap is considered to be tailored for network management and give the commission enforcement authority when ISPs violate those conditions. “As internet usage continues to be a necessity for work, education, and health care, no family should have to worry about extra fees and costs because of unnecessary limits on their data,” Lujan said. “Internet access is a basic necessity and has been increasingly important throughout the coronavirus pandemic,” Booker said: “Unfortunately, many internet providers have imposed predatory data caps, making it difficult for many vulnerable families to access high-speed internet.” Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff praised Lujan and Booker for working to eliminate “this baseless price gouging.” The “bill will ensure that ISPs are not allowed to include frivolous data caps at the expense of consumers,” said Consumer Reports Senior Policy Counsel Jonathan Schwantes. “Americans need fast, reliable and affordable internet connections that are free from the burden of data caps that chill internet use and make it more expensive.” Incompas also backs the legislation.

The House will vote next week on the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act (HR-4040), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on the floor Thursday. HR-4040 would permanently lift some restrictions on Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services and coverage of those services at federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. It would also remove restrictions that limit healthcare providers’ ability to give their patients access to smart devices and innovative digital technology. HR-4040 “would further extend critical telehealth policies implemented during” the pandemic, Hoyer said. Congress lifted some limits on telehealth eligibility for Medicare in March 2020 (see 2003250046). Lawmakers have supported proposals to make those rollbacks permanent (see 2008170064).

Privacy legislation the House Commerce Committee advanced Wednesday (see 2207200061) is stronger than California’s privacy law in “nearly every way,” said Future of Privacy Forum Legislative Research and Analysis Director Stacey Gray Thursday. The Software & Information Industry Association said the approval process moved the bill away from compromise positions and it needs more input from stakeholders before it’s ready for the floor. Gray said the bill’s civil rights provisions are “substantially stronger” than any state law, and it also resolves some of California’s procedural concerns, “including the possibility that it could nullify the state agency’s current enforcement and rulemaking powers.” SIIA President Jeff Joseph said the bill in its current form could “undermine consumer protection and lead to increased costs or reduced quality services for consumers and open the door to a greater, unworkable patchwork of U.S. privacy laws.” Industry, academic and advocacy groups need more time to provide feedback on the legislation, said Joseph.

The House Commerce Committee will mark up bipartisan privacy legislation Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (HR-8152) passed the House Consumer Protection Subcommittee unanimously. The latest version of the ADPPA is another good step, but the bill needs to be strengthened, said Center for Democracy & Technology CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens: “The private right of action still contains many limitations that will curtail individual enforcement, and the protections against retaliating against people who exercise their privacy choices have some loopholes that should be closed.” Public Knowledge highlighted the bill’s provisions giving the FTC authority to mandate a consumers’ right to opt out of targeted ads and a “do not collect” button, “which would allow individuals to get their data deleted from every data broker that has collected information about them.”

Congressional leadership should move antitrust legislation that’s ready for floor action in both chambers, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Tuesday with the formal publishing of the committee’s October 2020 majority staff report on competition in the digital marketplace. “The report’s findings and recommendations clearly show that it is long-past time for Congress to enact meaningful updates to our antitrust laws to address the lack of competition in digital markets and the monopoly power of dominant platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google,” Nadler said. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, the Open App Markets Act and the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act are “ready for votes today,” said House Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline, D-R.I. House Antitrust Subcommittee Vice Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., spoke in support of her Ending Platform Monopolies Act.

Government purchases of Americans’ personal data is a threat to civil liberties, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, agreed Tuesday at a hearing. Never has the government had more ability to spy on its citizens, Jordan said, focusing his remarks on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse and the surveillance of Trump campaign officials. The mass adoption of electronic devices that allow the tracking of every aspect of life means Congress needs to rethink the law, said Jordan. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are buying data for their own use, meaning they can obtain vast quantities of information without warrant, including location, search and online preference history, said Nadler. He cited instances of pervasive use of geolocation data to track protesters, sweeping surveillance of thousands of targets to identify a minimal number of suspects and the purchase of data from dating apps. When there’s no constraint on the sale of future use of data, companies have no control over reidentification of the data or where it goes next, said Nadler. Agencies ranging from the Defense Intelligence Agency to the IRS, FBI and CIA are buying personal data of millions of Americans they would otherwise have to obtain through warrants, former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told the committee during testimony. He noted a report from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., showing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence informed his office it doesn’t need to adhere to the Constitution or the Supreme Court’s Carpenter ruling on collecting cellsite location information when it buys data, which Goodlatte said is “outrageous.” Monday, the ACLU released thousands of pages of data showing Department of Homeland Security agencies paying millions to data brokers, “one of which claims to collect more than 15 billion location data points from over 250 million mobile devices every day,” said Goodlatte.

The House was in the process of voting Tuesday on six tech-focused amendments (see 2207140070) to the FY 2023 omnibus appropriations package that includes funding for the FCC, FTC and Agriculture Department rural broadband programs (HR-8294) that the Rules Committee allowed for floor consideration Monday. The House voted 229-199 against three amendments in an en bloc package aimed at cutting down overall funding levels drawn from the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee’s bill. The measure proposes giving the FCC $390 million and the FTC $490 million (see 2206270061). Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., sought a 22% trim; Reps. Rick Allen, R-Ga., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., separately proposed 5% cuts. Lawmakers still needed to vote on a proposal from Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., to bar FTC funding from being used to promulgate rules defining or describing unfair methods of competition under the FTC Act. Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., was also expecting a vote on his amendment to encourage the FTC to continue using its existing authority to protect consumers’ right to repair and hold accountable companies who engage in the anti-competitive conduct of limiting repairs by consumers.

The House Rules Committee began considering proposed amendments Monday to the FY 2023 omnibus appropriations package that includes funding for the FCC, FTC and Agriculture Department rural broadband programs (HR-8294). The measure proposes giving the FCC $390 million and the FTC $490 million (see 2206270061). Several amendments target the FTC, but none aims to set new FCC policy riders (see 2207140070). House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Mike Quigley, D-Ill., highlighted “new language” in HR-8294 that removes an FCC barrier to broadcasters airing ads for cannabis products. The text is focused on “protecting FCC licenses for broadcasters advertising cannabis where it’s legal,” he said. The provision got criticism from some House Appropriations Republicans, including ranking member Kay Granger of Texas (see 2206270061). Appropriations Financial Services ranking member Steve Womack, R-Ark., criticized the proposed 30% increase in the FTC’s annual funding. Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., cited HR-8294’s proposed $560 million for USDA rural broadband programs, which is needed “as we continue to prioritize closing the digital divide.” A late amendment from House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., and ranking member Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., proposes allocating $3 billion annually through FY 2030 for a permanent version of the ReConnect program, $300 million annually through the same period for USDA’s Innovative Broadband Advancement and Middle Mile programs, $150 million annually for the Community Connect Grants and Distance Learning and Telemedicine programs and $25 million annually for the Broadband Connections program.