House Dems Diss FCC Process Reform Bills

House Commerce Committee Democratic staffers panned the majority's Federal Communications Commission regulatory reform proposals in a memo on the Nov. 16 hearing on the bills in the Communications Subcommittee.

While they said some of the proposals reflected input from Democrats, on balance the bills have the potential to undo decades of court precedent under the Administrative Procedures Act, and could create uncertainty and confusion for the FCC and interested stakeholders going forward. The Democratic staffer argue that the bills make changes that it will take the FCC and courts years to figure out and implement, including how the FCC decides a new regulation would be a "burden on industry or consumers," and define "actual consumer harm" and "specific market failure" or what constitutes "adequate time" for consumers to vet a proposal before being to vote on a proposal.