Hill Funding Compromise Leaves FCC Short on Desired Cash

The House geared up Wednesday for a possible Thursday vote. Current government funding ends Thursday at midnight, with many wondering whether Congress can advance this measure by then.

“It’s looking increasingly bleak for that to happen,” Senate Commerce Committee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday before the package's release. He believes short-term continuing resolutions may “possibly” be necessary to fund the government after Thursday as Congress works through this package. Timing depends on “whether you have senators who want to burn all the time,” Thune said, anticipating Congress possibly working past the initial recess date of Thursday into the weekend or beyond. “But I think the result will be the same,” he said, suspecting eventual passage.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Congress has frozen the FCC’s budget at this level, the House Appropriations Committee said in a bill summary. The FCC had no comment. The $1.1 trillion budget encompasses 11 of 12 appropriations bills, providing funding through Sept. 30, with the Department of Homeland Security funded under a separate continuing resolution expiring Feb. 27.

The appropriations process derailed partway through this year, with Congress adopting a continuing resolution to fund the government this fall. The House had passed a controversial budget in July (HR-5016) that would have allocated the FCC $323 million for FY 2015, more than a $50 million less than what the White House requested (see 1407280036). The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee approved a budget matching the White House request but failed to advance it. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had testified before Congress multiple times that the agency needed more money to upgrade its frequently failing website and for enforcement action.

Appropriations Riders

The appropriations package includes several key provisions touching on telecom and media matters. “The FCC is directed to outline the process and factors it will use in evaluating waiver requests regarding the recently promulgated rules addressing Joint Sales Agreements,” one provision read, according to a Financial Services section, referring to FCC limits on joint sales agreements approved last spring. “There is concern that questions surrounding this waiver process have caused uncertainty for many broadcasters and possible delays in approval of applications for broadcast license transfers.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., spearheaded this provision, with support from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., one industry official told us. Blunt had first proposed and then withdrew an amendment focusing on this issue at a September markup session for Senate Commerce Committee satellite TV legislation. The provision would mean that Wheeler can't arbitrarily deny broadcaster joint sales agreements, the official said.

The funding bill's Internet Tax Freedom Act extension through Oct. 1 is clear indication that a "battle" is coming over the Marketplace Fairness Act (HR-684) next Congress, said Executive Director Andrew Moylan of the R Street Institute, a free-market think tank. R Street opposes MFA. There's no reason for a relatively short extension of an "utterly noncontroversial" bill unless there's forthcoming attempt to link it to MFA, he said. Moylan said he expects the House Judiciary Committee to address Internet sales tax issues next year.

ITFA's "short-term" extension "points to a broad desire in both parties to solve ITFA and MFA together," said Jason Brewer, Retail Industry Leaders Association vice president-communications. "We're hopeful that Congress will do what's right in 2015 and end the special treatment currently given to online sellers." RILA supports MFA.

The FCC would also have to submit a report to the Senate and House Appropriations committees within 90 days “detailing the agency's efforts to resolve call completion issues and to prevent discriminatory delivery of calls to any area of the country,” another provision said. Another section forbids the FCC from modifying rules that deal with USF single-connection or primary line restrictions, it said.

NTCA is “pleased that members of Congress continue to take leadership roles in seeking an end to this epidemic, and we’re grateful that the significance of this issue has been recognized by its inclusion in such important legislation,” CEO Shirley Bloomfield said.

FTC Funding Steady

The omnibus funding bill would provide $293 million for the FTC, matching what the agency requested. The Commerce Department would receive more money than in FY 2014 -- $8.5 billion, $286 million more than what was enacted this year. Of that money, $3.5 billion would go to the Patent and Trademark Office, $434 million more than what was enacted in FY2014. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would receive $864 million, $14 million more than what’s currently enacted. NTIA would receive $38.2 million, below the $51 million requested by the executive branch but slightly higher than what the House allocated this summer. References to cybersecurity coordination and funding fill the package across various sections, with millions allocated in different parts of the federal government. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board would also receive a boost under this package, with $7.5 million slated for its operations available through Sept. 30, 2016.

Some Democrats signaled displeasure with the compromise. House Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Wednesday called certain unrelated provisions of the measure “destructive,” also criticizing Republicans for posting the text in the “dead of night.” The package was released about 8 p.m. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have wanted the vehicle to combat White House policies more aggressively.

Mikulski, speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, anticipated the package passing through the House and Senate Thursday before the midnight expiration, calling it a “monumental achievement.” The White House hadn't decided whether the president would sign the package, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Any lawmaker "around here can slow things down if they want to,” Thune said. “We may have some people who will want to speak to it. We may have some people who want to object to portions of it. But in the end, I don’t see it getting derailed.” He jokingly called the situation a “Christmas ritual” on Capitol Hill. “If it comes out of the House with a big vote, gets over here, and unless there’s something really objectionable in there, and most of this stuff has been vetted by the leaders of the committees, I think in the end this is going to get done, so it’s just a question of whether it drags out for a long indefinite time or whether it gets done fairly quickly,” Thune remarked.