Pelosi, House Democrats Press Gov. Brown to Sign California Net Neutrality Bill
Net neutrality lobbying of California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is heating up. Capitol Hill Democrats seek enactment and industry urge veto of a state bill that flies in the face of the FCC’s December order rescinding 2015 rules. Brown kept mum Tuesday on SB-822, his usual practice with bills pending his signature; he has until midnight on Sept. 30 to decide. Chairman Ajit Pai Friday said the bill passed last month by the California legislature is illegal (see 1809140046).
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California “will lead the way in the rest of the county,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a Tuesday news conference at a fire department in San Francisco. Brown should sign SB-822, which restores and improves upon the 2015 rules, Pelosi said. Democrats’ plan for a “better deal” includes strong net neutrality protections, she added. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) urged enacting the bill he wrote, noting Brown is an “incredibly thorough and thoughtful governor” facing a “deluge” of bills on his desk.
"None of us knows what the governor will do," but Brown has "always been ... a person of the future and understands the future very well," Pelosi said. If some want to sue California, she said, "they're going to have to go to the court of public opinion."
Brown’s office “does not typically weigh in on legislation pending before the Governor,” a spokesperson said. Those watching the bill said forecasting what Brown might do is difficult. “Zero hints” from Brown, “but that's not surprising,” emailed Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon. An absence of signals is “pretty common for how Gov. Brown operates,” said Demand Progress Campaign Director Robert Cruickshank. It’s generally hard to read Brown’s view on any bill before he decides, noted Best Best’s Gail Karish, a local government attorney.
Brown “gives bills serious thought,” emailed Tellus Venture Associates President Steve Blum. “He's good at balancing political, fiscal, operational and philosophical considerations.” The local government consultant predicted the governor will sign SB-822. “It would be hard for Brown to defer to the Trump administration on a high profile issue like net neutrality,” and telecom companies got a win when the legislature killed SB-460, which aimed to restrict state procurement with companies that violate net neutrality and probably would have been easier to defend in court, Blum said. “Telecoms companies got something with the death of SB 460, the [Democratic] party gets something with SB 822,” he said. “The only wild card is whether Brown has fundamental, philosophical objections -- he'll veto otherwise acceptable bills on that basis -- but I don't think he does.”
Sign the California bill, urged Rep. Anna Eshoo and a dozen other U.S. House Democrats from the state in a Monday letter tweeted by Wiener. “As we in Congress engage in efforts at the federal level to restore nationwide net neutrality, SB 822 will ensure that Californians will continue to have unfettered access to an Internet that ensures free discourse, reinforces our democracy, and promotes innovation in one of the largest economies in the world," the members said.
Telecom industry and business groups sought veto in letters to Brown. “This legislation includes extreme provisions rejected by the Obama FCC in 2015 and goes well beyond the Order’s net neutrality principles,” said a Sept. 14 letter from the California Cable &Telecommunications Association, CTIA, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications and others. Cable ISPs support an open internet, but SB-822 “would impose cumbersome California-specific obligations on an interstate service already regulated by federal law, deprive consumers of popular low-cost data plans, and prohibit ISPs from charging the biggest users of their networks, thereby stifling investment to expand Internet access, especially in rural California,” CCTA wrote Sept. 13.
The bill will be costly not only to ISPs, but also to “consumers who will pay to absorb … litigation costs through higher prices for Internet services,” said the Civil Justice Association of California in a Sept. 12 letter. CJAC’s organizing board includes AT&T, Ford and other big businesses. “The ‘costs’ this bill will inflict on ISPs, their consumers, and the public interest outweigh the benefit it will confer on a select group of contingency fee counsel.”
“Net neutrality cannot and should not be solved by the states,” USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said Monday. “Gov. Brown should veto this bill and Congress should step up with a pro-consumer, national framework that will settle this.”