House Passes FCC Process Reform Act

March 11, 2014. The House passed  HR 3675 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act", by voice vote. The Senate has not passed this bill.

This is the second time around for this bill. The House passed a similar bill in the 112th Congress, HR 3309 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012". The vote on final passage was 247-174. See, Roll Call No. 138. Republicans voted 235-0. Democrats vote 12-174. The Senate did not pass that bill.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT), introduced this bill on December 9, 2013. The HCC approved it the next day.

Unlike the bill in the 112th Congress, this one passed the House with broad bipartisan support.

See also, related story titled "Commentary: FCC Process Reform Act", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,633, March 12, 2014.

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) stated in the House that "Last Congress, our work on this issue, unfortunately, devolved into a partisan process and a vote on a bill that was dead on arrival in the Senate." In contrast, in the present Congress, "we were able to come to an agreement on a set of bipartisan reform proposals that were unanimously supported by the committee."

Rep. Walden said that "this bill is the result of a multiyear process, ending with bipartisan agreement that takes important steps towards improving this very important agency. This legislation will produce a joint effort where the Commission establishes procedures to achieve the goals established by Congress."

He also summarized the bill. "The bill requires the FCC to undertake ... a notice and comment rulemaking, resulting in the FCC's adopting rules to address several different reforms. Setting a minimum time period for comments in an FCC rulemaking will allow for certainty for those who wish to comment -- the public. In addition, adopted rules must address issues like data dumps at the end of a comment period, transparency as to items pending before the Commissioners, and publication of the language of proposed rules. ... The rulemaking also requires the Federal Communications Commission to adopt deadlines for action on several types of filings before the agency."

The bill also provides and extension of the exemption from the requirements of the Antideficiency Act for the FCC's universal service tax and subsidy programs, until December 31, 2020.

Ajit Pai, a Republican FCC Commissioner, stated in a release that "I hope that this common-sense bill, as well as the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013, H.R. 2844, which the House of Representatives passed 415 to 0 back in September, will soon be enacted into law."

See, HR 2844 [LOC | WW], and story titled "House Passes Bill to Consolidate FCC Market Reports" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,598, September 10, 2013.

For more on House passage of the FCC process legislation in the 112th Congress, see "House Passes FCC Process Reform Act" and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,361, March 30, 2012, and "House Commerce Committee Approves FCC Reform Bills" and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,346, March 5, 2012.

(Published in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,633, March 12, 2014.)