Telecom Act Exemption Provisions Proving Controversial in Senate
The sweeping telecom legislation scheduled for markup Thurs. appeared to be in peril, with senators on both sides of the aisle concerned about preemption language that would free wireless carriers from most state regulation, sources said Tues. According to some groups working the issue, state preemption in recent days replaced net neutrality as the most important issue in the legislation (CD June 20 p3).
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Hill sources said Tues. the wireless preemption language was championed by Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.), VoIP preemption language by Sen. Sununu (R-N.H.). NARUC, AARP and the National Governors Assn. are all contemplating letters to the Hill raising red flags about preemption. “Stevens has been releasing these different drafts of the bill and taking input from members of the committee,” one lobbyist said. “Up until yesterday the Democrats on the committee seemed to be warming up to it, they were seeing progress… I've talked to staff from both the Republican and Democratic sides and they've all said the whole thing has fallen apart.”
The lobbyist said Democrats may file dozens of amendments in an attempt to stall a Thurs. vote. Amendments were due late Tues. The source said Stevens may need to reinsert himself into the process to save the bill. “Stevens is probably not even aware of some of this,” he said: “It’s really the staff draft. It looks to me that for things to get back on track Stevens is going to have to intervene and pull out some of these items that are pretty significant where there hasn’t been a lot of discussion.”
A 2nd lobbyist who opposes the preemption language said the bill has emerged as a “moving target” in recent days: “We've moved from serious concerns to a lot of folks considering opposing.” Members of the Senate committee still want to move a bill but others are more ambivalent, he said: “So much of the discussion is around net neutrality, but the massive exemptions aren’t getting the proper discussion, hearings from a state perspective that they should be given.” A lobbyist who represents consumer interests said Tues.: “From what I've heard so far, many Democrats are upset and some Republicans are concerned about weighing down the bill.”
“The draft that came out at midnight on Fri. didn’t sit well with a lot of members,” a Hill source said: “Are they going to be able to keep their entire caucus together to force this through committee? I don’t know. Maybe… Substantively, there might be an argument for each of those exemptions, but procedurally, to come in at such a late time, those provisions essentially turn this bill into a massive telecom reform bill.”
But carrier sources said Tues. they see substantial support on the Hill for the language. “We think we can work though any objections,” one carrier lobbyist said: “All of the provisions are consistent with how the FCC is moving toward lighter-handed regulation.”