House Communications Subcommittee Begins FCC Reauthorization

The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), heard from Federal Communications Commission Managing Director Jon Wilkins as members began their review of the FCC’s $530 million Fiscal Year 2016 budget request. As part of the subcommittee’s effort to modernize the federal government for the 21st century, members discussed their work to reauthorize the FCC -- a task not completed since 1990 -- which is a critical part of the update of the Communications Act of 1934. “Much has changed since the last reauthorization of the commission,” said Chairman Walden. “The industries and markets the commission oversees have without question undergone dramatic changes and continue to evolve at a rapid pace. But in the intervening years the FCC has struggled to reflect the evolution of technology that has brought about the integration of voice, video, and data services and the significant shifts in consumer consumption patterns that have resulted.” The hearing mostly stuck to policy questions about the FCC's increased budget request to pay for increased IT infrastructure and moving portions of the agency to a cheaper location.

The Hill reports that Director Wilkins reported no need for the FCC to beef up its legal budget to defend against anticipated lawsuits against its new network neutrality rules. He said the commission must defend itself against major litigation in any given year, and its budget does not have to be increased to defend the new regulations. "This is certainly an important issue that will take staff work,” Wilkins said. “But in terms of my staffing discussions with those offices and bureau heads, it is not different than the usual large important issues that those staffs support. So there is no increase in this budget, for example, to support that activity." Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) argued it would have been cheaper for Congress and the FCC to work out net neutrality legislation rather than forcing the commission to defend its own regulations in court. "That litigation is not free," Rep Johnson said. "The taxpayers are paying for that litigation. The question is: Wouldn't it have been more prudent to let Congress work with the FCC to get a legislative fix to net neutrality rather than spend taxpayer dollars to litigate something they know is going to be litigated?" Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) shot back that the FCC has had to defend plenty of actions that Congress has approved, including the upcoming spectrum auction. "There is not a tidy answer to this,” she said. “Congress takes action on a daily basis and people sue, so it’s not just one way or another.”