Broadcasters condemned a bill that would require free airtime for political advertising. HR-137, introduced last week by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, requires radio and TV broadcasting licensees to allot “an equal amount, but not less than 2 hours, of free broadcast time each even-numbered year to each qualified political candidate in a statewide or national election.” The bill also directs the FCC to make similar rules for cable operators. “NAB will strongly oppose efforts to impose government-mandated free airtime for politicians,” said an NAB spokesman. “We take seriously our role in covering elections. The unfortunate reality is that high-priced political consultants often advise political candidates to reject voluntary free airtime offers from broadcasters for debates and town hall forums.” All viable candidates should have reasonable access to the airwaves, said Meredith McGehee, policy director for Campaign Legal Center. Providing equal airtime to candidates serves the public interest and therefore should be part of broadcasters’ obligations, she said. The bill is especially important in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing corporate funding of political broadcasts, she said. Public Citizen supports the bill as a “good beginning for discussion” to lower campaign costs and improve political candidates’ access to the airwaves, said the group’s government affairs lobbyist Craig Holman. But it will be an “uphill battle” given the influence broadcasters hold over Congress, he said. NCTA didn’t comment.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he hopes to strike a balance between defending against cyberattacks and protecting privacy online. Speaking Tuesday at the Newseum, Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy said he will direct his committee to modernize the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). He said he also wants to take up intellectual property theft and finish cybersecurity legislation.
The hiring of Ray Baum to the House Commerce Committee could signal heightened Capitol Hill interest in pursuing Universal Service Fund reform this year, state and industry officials said. Baum was chairman of the Oregon Public Utilities Commission and the state chairman of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. Some wireline industry lobbyists said they believe Baum may try to revamp the bill worked out last year by Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., and former Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va.
The split Congress could agree on spectrum and privacy matters, former Hill aides said Saturday on C-SPAN’s The Communicators. But it’s likely Senate Democrats and House Republicans will continue to butt heads on net neutrality, and it will take time to get new members comfortable with communications issues before Congress can move forward on a rewrite of the 1996 Telecom Act, they said.
House Democrats may decide Jan. 19 who will be ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, said a House Democratic staffer and a telecom industry lobbyist. But a spokeswoman for the Commerce Committee minority said the committee hasn’t set the timing for announcing subcommittee assignments. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., wants to be the ranking member and has seniority. But Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is also believed to be making a bid.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., took himself out of the running for ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, clearing the way for Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., to take the job. Towns will join the Commerce Committee, according to a list we obtained of Democratic committee assignments. Also, House Judiciary Committee Republicans announced chairmen and vice chairmen for its subcommittees. Late Friday, Commerce Committee Republicans announced their subcommittee assignments.
Republicans introduced legislation to strike down FCC net neutrality rules Wednesday, the first day of the new Congress. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, introduced the Internet Freedom Act providing that only Congress can make rules for the Internet. Meanwhile, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said his top priority is reversing the commission’s rules, under the Congressional Review Act.
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, added two seats to the Commerce Committee, one for each party, a Democratic aide said Wednesday. Otherwise, the return of Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y., to the committee would have pushed out the less senior Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., the aide said. Matsui will keep her seat with the new committee roster of 31 Republicans and 23 Democrats, but the lineup isn’t entirely settled, the aide said. A Boehner spokesman didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Matsui’s office declined to comment.
NAB and USTelecom got letters from House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asking what existing and proposed federal regulations would harm job growth, spokespeople for the trade groups said Tuesday. USTelecom is reviewing the letter, its spokeswoman said. Issa sent the letter last month to a variety of trade groups and companies, including in the telecom industry, according to a Politico article circulated by Issa’s office. NAB got it only late Tuesday afternoon, its spokesman said. Issa said earlier this week that he plans a hearing on rules’ effect on jobs (CD Jan 4 p1), and analysts suspect net neutrality will come up. “The theme of bypassing Congress through the regulatory process obviously touches on the basic complaint numerous lawmakers had against new [net neutrality] regulations,” said Potomac Research analyst Paul Glenchur. About a year ago, Issa raised concerns about White House involvement in the FCC’s net neutrality policy decisions, Glenchur noted. An Issa spokesman wouldn’t provide a list of which trade groups and companies received letters. Spokespeople for CompTel and NCTA said they hadn’t received a letter. AT&T, Verizon and CTIA didn’t comment.
Reversing the FCC on net neutrality will be one of the House Commerce Committee’s “first big tests,” and the subject of one of the committee’s “first big hearings,” said the committee’s new chairman, Fred Upton, R-Mich. In an interview Friday with conservative radio talk host Hugh Hewitt, Upton said he hopes to find bipartisan support for a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. Meanwhile, new Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he plans hearings on whether the Obama administration plans to “abuse the regulatory process” and how to stop leaks of confidential information on the Internet.