DTV Bills Face Tight Schedule

Even if the date changes, DTV markup will occur in an unusually tight time frame, and many members fear they won’t be able to resolve contentious issues, House and Senate sources told us. “We still haven’t seen a draft,” a Senate source said, referring to Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Steven’s DTV bill. The committee, which worked on the bill during summer recess in a remote location in Alaska, said it wants to wait until members return to DC before circulating a draft to get consensus. Major divisive issues include: (1) Setting a hard transition date, expected in 2009 with a mid-2009 date strongly anticipated, Senate sources told us. (2) What to pay for converter boxes for analog TV sets left inoperable by the digital transition. (3) A multicasting provision requiring cable operators carry broadcasters’ local programming. (4) A downconversion provision that would let cable operators downconvert DTV signals at the headend so analog-only customers can receive digital programming.

“This could be a disaster,” a Senate source said of the difficulty of incorporating so many contentious issues into one bill. Some predict an alternative approach that strips the bill to its bones: A hard transition date, auction authority renewal and a subsidy program arranged between Democrats who seek full replacement for all sets and Republicans opposing subsidy. A separate bill would address other, more complex issues. Another hurdle is reconciling the House and Senate bills. Consultation has been minimal, but Senate committee sources said the House discussion draft (CD May 26 p1) is an important blueprint they will be following when drafting their bill.

Another autumn scheduling challenge for the Senate Commerce Committee will be the promised video news release markup Stevens promised on a bill sponsored by Sen. Lautenberg (D-N.J.). The bill, which would mandate disclaimers on govt.-produced video news releases, is being pushed by Democrats. Stevens committed to the markup after Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) complained he had been trying to move the bill forward but had received no support (CD July 22 p1).

Once Congress resolves DTV, its next agenda item is a telecom update. Barton and Stevens have said they will release bills mid-Sept., but the House version probably is further along. Sen. Ensign’s bill (S-1504) could generate a hearing as the most comprehensive effort so far, or parts of it could be worked into Stevens’ draft, we're told. “I just don’t see how they [the Senate] would have had any time to work on this,” a telecom lobbyist said. Some predict a push by the Bells to split off a separate bill dealing only with video franchising, but there are no indications of that effort gaining much support. Stevens will decide whether to pursue an umbrella bill like Ensign’s or piecemeal efforts -- a call he isn’t ready to make yet, Senate sources said.

Regulatory treatment of VoIP and IP-enabled services will figure prominently in telecom update legislation. Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) is among senators pushing for a bill to require VoIP providers to ensure customers have E-911 access (CD Sept 1 p6). Meanwhile, Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) is expected within weeks to introduce a comprehensive universal service fund (USF) bill in conjunction with Sens. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Snowe (R-Me.) (CD Aug 16 p1). The bill is expected to address contribution methodology, but via a different path than the Smith- Dorgan bill, which would create a separate fund for rural area broadband deployment. Stevens has promised to deal with USF in legislation he'll draft later this session, but has provided no details of his vision for that bill. - - Anne Veigle