House Democrats Ready To Vote Down GOP Lifeline, FCC Funding Bills on Floor

Scott's appropriations amendment would forbid funding “to expand the Lifeline program to provide support for broadband internet access until the [FCC] implements an operating budget that includes a cap that does not exceed” $2 billion. That's a higher cap than he sought in a divisive and stalled legislative battle earlier this year. Amendments were due Monday at noon. Some of the 132 filed dealt with controversial telecom issues such as the net neutrality order and ISP privacy rules.

GOP leadership also is advancing under suspension of the rules on Tuesday Scott’s End Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act (HR-5525), introduced Thursday and bypassing any Commerce Committee consideration. The Rules Committee posted the bill text, which would “prohibit universal service support of commercial mobile service and commercial mobile data service through the Lifeline program.” A GOP Commerce Committee aide declined comment on the strategy and referred us to the office of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Its one co-sponsor is Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, but an aide didn’t claim credit for any fast-tracking. She referred to McCarthy’s office setting the schedule. McCarthy’s office didn’t comment.

“Not only did House Republicans bring this bill to the Floor without going through committee, but the policy would harm low-income Americans by undermining a program created during the Reagan Administration and expanded during George W. Bush's Administration to provide basic phone and internet service,” a Democratic leadership aide said by email Monday. “Just a few weeks after Speaker [Paul] Ryan unveiled his so-called poverty plan, we’re seeing him bring to the Floor a bill to take phones and internet away from struggling Americans. For many low-income Americans, their cell phone is their only phone and their only connection to the internet. Rep. Scott’s bill to strip that access away will only further isolate vulnerable Americans and put jobs out of reach. We expect that nearly all Democrats will oppose the bill.” The aide told us Democrats also will be urged to oppose the Financial Services bill.

Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., will oppose the bill, an aide told us Monday. The aide cited the earlier partisan fight over Scott’s budget cap bill and said he had a difficult time imagining this new bill clearing the floor. Consideration under suspension means it requires a two-thirds vote to pass. That method is usually reserved for legislation deemed uncontroversial. "I’m disappointed, but not surprised, that House Republicans are once again trying to eliminate a program that provides millions of low-income Americans access to basic communications services," Pallone said. "The best way to lower the costs of the Lifeline program is to lift people up, not to take away their connection to a better life."

“The Lifeline program is aptly named,” Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., told us in a statement. “Millions of Americans today rely on their wireless cell phones and so do low-income people. Representative Austin Scott’s legislation rips away low-income American’s ability to look for a job, make doctor’s appointments, and have the critical ability to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency. According to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), in Representative Scott’s Congressional District, his legislation will hurt 43,200 of his own constituents who currently subscribe to the Lifeline program, including active-duty soldiers and veterans. There are some that blame fraud and abuse on low-income Americans, however, the fact is the worst abuses of this program come from the cell-phone providers, not low-income families receiving the $9.25/month subsidy. The FCC levied its largest fine in the history of Lifeline, $51 million, due to the fraud perpetrated by Total Call Mobile against the program.”

In April, "the FCC fined carrier Total Call Mobile for overbilling the Lifeline program by millions of dollars and fraudulently enrolling duplicate and ineligible consumers by circumventing the National Lifeline Accountability Database and manipulating customer information,” Scott told us in a statement. “This news comes on the heels of the FCC’s recent announcement to increase the ‘budget’ for Lifeline by $725 million. This ‘budget’ is neither subject to Congressional oversight nor approval. It is clear that this lack of accountability and rampant fraud is systemic to the Lifeline Program; the price of which has been paid by Americans across the country via the Universal Service Fee on their phone bills each month.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to House lawmakers slamming Scott’s latest Lifeline bill. “Prohibiting the use of mobile devices in Lifeline would be a counter-productive measure that would reduce the likelihood that low-income people could reestablish financial stability,” the group’s leaders said in the letter, dated Monday, arguing that the legislation “is unnecessary and will fail to protect low-income people and people of color.”

The Financial Services bill includes riders mandating a pause to the set-top box proceeding, prohibiting broadband rate regulation, protecting broadcaster joint sales agreements and addressing FCC process, but no floor amendments filed by our deadline addressed those issues. Eshoo is trying to nix the FCC funding bill’s anti-net neutrality provisions already in the base appropriations legislation, which attracted fierce opposition when it cleared the Appropriations Committee earlier this year. Eshoo’s amendment would strike the bill’s Section 632, which would freeze implementation of the net neutrality order while litigation is pending. That rider’s GOP author told us last week the rider would apply to subsequent legal challenges following the FCC’s recent federal court victory (see 1606140053). Senate appropriators included no anti-net neutrality riders in their FCC funding bill, cleared 30-0 Thursday (see 1606160055) but did include set-top box and JSA riders. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., filed an amendment with Eshoo’s backing that would prevent any of the funding being used in contravention of Communications Act Section 317. That's the provision of the act compelling broadcast disclosure of sponsorship, an ongoing source of concern for Yarmuth and several other Capitol Hill Democrats.

Free Press is soliciting donations this week citing both Scott’s Lifeline bill and his and other GOP amendments filed to the appropriations measure. “There are already six things we need to defeat in the House this week,” Free Press said in listing the items such as the net neutrality, set-top and JSA riders. “This is a power grab, plain and simple. A gift basket for industry.”

Democrats broadly slammed the funding in the House appropriations bill, and some hope to change that. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., is pressing for an amendment that would increase FTC funding “by $1 million for additional enforcement of the Do Not Call Registry and education for the public about avoiding telemarketer deception and abuse.” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., submitted an amendment that would up “funding for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board by $1,784,000.”

Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., meanwhile, filed an amendment to forbid any money “for the FCC to use Net Neutrality rules to implement, administer or enforce privacy restrictions against broadband Internet service providers pursuant to Section 222 of the Communications Act.” Blackburn slammed the FCC privacy NPRM during last week’s Communications Subcommittee hearing on the topic, referring to the FCC action as government overreach and prioritizing the FTC approach. The NPRM has caused “some problems and heartburn and concern for those of us on this side of the dais,” Blackburn said during the hearing, fearing “industry confusion.” Democrats have broadly backed the net neutrality order and FCC ISP privacy regulation.

None of these Financial Services floor amendments have been deemed in order. The Rules Committee will decide that 5 p.m. Tuesday in H-313 of the Capitol.