Tight Legislative Calendar Not Seen as Fatal for Mobile Now, FCC Reauthorization

No precise House companions exist for either measure, although House lawmakers have weighed parts of the legislation in smaller stand-alone form. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he’s receptive to both pieces of legislation. “We’re watching both those,” Walden said in an interview. He's talking to Senate counterparts on possible paths forward, he affirmed: “We’re talking to them. We’ll see what we can come together on. Not ready to preview all that right now.” He strongly backs the concept of FCC reauthorization (see 1605030063) and weighed the prospect of “upgrading” Mobile Now in March (see 1603230042) and February (see 1602250049).

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., led the process of crafting both bills. Through months of negotiation, he secured the backing of ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., for both. The Senate returned from a weeklong recess Monday, but both chambers face unusually long periods of recess before the November election. Congress will be in session for May and June but for only a portion of July and September. Lawmakers likely will return for a lame-duck session after the election.

Advancing both bills certainly isn't impossible, argued a Democratic House staffer. The House knows how to move quickly and doesn't really require legislative days for informal conferencing between the chambers, the staffer said. He cited a possible scenario of conference negotiation during the long recess and then moving legislation in September. Although the calendar doesn't foreclose these legislative victories, it doesn’t make achieving them easy, either, the staffer conceded.

“The issue is trying to get it through the Senate,” said Jim Manley, who directs the Quinn Gillespie communications practice and formerly spent years working for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “They’re going to do the hotlines and then see where the problems are. That’s why they need to get those hotlines running as quickly as possible.”

Manley sees Hill passage of both measures as still achievable this year, based on the smooth committee markup votes. He agreed the House can move quickly if inclined and said the key challenge is crafting an agreement before the full Senate, particularly in identifying how to resolve objections during a hotline attempt. A single senator’s objection would prevent the unanimous consent consideration following a process known as hotlining. One source of possible objections is seen as the Democratic leadership outrage over the lack of a reconfirmation vote for FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1605060062). Another pending issue for the FCC Reauthorization Act is a federal spectrum opportunity cost amendment from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that Nelson raised concerns about (see 1605050046).

“We’re in May,” said Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner. “It is challenging because the House wants to get re-elected. … The longer it takes, the less likely it is. I think if the House wants to do something on their own; that makes it likely that it will not pass.” He cited the Senate’s difficulties reaching bipartisan consensus on Mobile Now due to the national security concerns of Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who “took all of the fizz out of the seltzer bottle” in terms of the measure’s spectrum ambitions, Entner said. If House lawmakers try to expand Mobile Now, the changes would have to pass muster with Nelson and the national security entities watching the process: “Good luck, in an election year,” Entner said of such potential conferencing. “Then I’m not optimistic.”

One broadcast lobbyist told us he doubts either Senate bill would become law this year. The measures simply set the table for what will happen in the next Congress following the election, the lobbyist said, citing the handful of remaining days.

“I think the key thing is going to be if they can hotline [Mobile Now] in the Senate,” said Public Knowledge government affairs counsel Phillip Berenbroick. He pointed to the time required for Senate staffers to draft the committee report for these measures. Now that Senate staffers have a Congressional Budget Office score for Mobile Now, they can decide how to “deal with the score” if they desire before advancing through the floor, he said. Mobile Now “would increase net direct spending by $135 million over the 2017-2026 period” and Commerce Committee staffers were addressing the measure with the Republican Steering Committee earlier this month, seen as a key step in facilitating a successful hotline (see 1605030046). The other key question is what House Commerce does in addressing these measures, Berenbroick agreed.

Look to the lame-duck session after the November presidential election, an ex-staffer for the Senate Commerce Committee told us. The ex-staffer didn’t see prospects for moving either measure to the White House until after the presidential election but said it’s possible by then, depending on the House appetite for taking them up. He said there is no question staffers will have enough time, saying it’s instead an issue of “the necessary oomph” of willpower. Neither bill is likely to prompt a public outcry for passage but could feasibly move, particularly if staffers find offsets for the CBO costs that Mobile Now will create and don't unsettle the federal spectrum holders with any added provisions, the ex-staffer said.