The Senate must act on the FCC Process...
The Senate must act on the FCC Process Reform Act, said Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. It passed the House by voice vote Tuesday. Heller introduced companion legislation to that bipartisan compromise bill earlier this year. “The Administration and the House…
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of Representatives have weighed in on the issue of process reform,” he said, pointing to “growing momentum” for the legislation. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai also backs this bill and the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act, which the House unanimously passed last fall. “Together, these bills recognize the need to modernize the FCC to reflect our dynamic, converged communications marketplace,” Pai said. “And they would eliminate outdated mandates on the agency, streamline its operations, and make it more accountable to the public.” The FCC Process Reform Act “furthers the important objective of encouraging greater transparency and predictability in FCC decision making, and ensures that business can continue to invest and innovate with more consistent federal oversight,” NCTA said in a statement. “While agency process has improved under recent chairmen, this legislation will ensure that reforms remain in place from one administration to the next,” House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said in a statement after the bill’s passage. Consumers “deserve a transparent and responsive” FCC, Walden said on the House floor Tuesday night. He mentioned “dangerous outcomes” that can occur otherwise, bringing up the FCC’s canceled Critical Information Needs study -- a high point of controversy drawing heavy Republican criticism in recent months. The bill is widely expected to stall in the Senate.