FCC USF Budget NPRM Said to Be OK'd on Party-Line Vote
An FCC USF budget NPRM that stirred controversy over procedural and substantive issues is apparently being finalized and has been OK'd on a party-line vote. Some had been watching to see what Commissioner Brendan Carr would do, given that early on he hadn't commented publicly on the item. Last week, he broke that near-silence by signaling his support, during an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators to have been televised this weekend and posted here.
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Carr backs seeking comment on an overall USF overall program cap, he said in the Q&A. "It makes eminent sense for us to look at capping the overall program." More on his other remarks: 1905240039. The FCC declined to comment Friday.
In the two or so months the draft rulemaking was circulating, there apparently weren't extensive negotiations between the agency's Democratic members and the office of Chairman Ajit Pai on ways to change the document before voting. That may have been because the Democrats were so concerned about the proceeding's basic thrust. Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly were said to have voted yes at around the time word first leaked about the document in late March (see 1903270042). Carr was said to have voted yes later, and then Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted no. This is all according to agency officials and others watching the proceeding.
Though public details remain scant, advocates for USF and some of its programs said now that they remain concerned about what they understand is the gist of the coming proposal. Their concern is that, in the words of several, if the proposal becomes a rule, it could "pit" the fund's four programs against each other if demand exceeds the overall budget. And early on, Rosenworcel and Starks were thought to be possible no votes (see 1904020022).
New America Open Technology Institute Policy Analyst Amir Nasr found it "a bit of a bummer to hear" that Carr told C-SPAN he, too, backs the item, after the other two Republican FCC members had indicated their support. "It definitely is concerning that they are moving forward with the idea of a cap," Nasr said. He and others noted that O'Rielly's April 2 blog post defending the rulemaking (see 1904030029) was the most detailed explanation of the draft they had seen. The final item may be released this coming week, agency officials said.
National Consumer Law Center Staff Attorney Olivia Wein thinks the NPRM shouldn't have been undertaken at all, at least if it's not combined with a look at what services should contribute to the USF. "I haven’t heard of any forward movement on that issue" of contribution reform, she said. "Perhaps they should look at that first." The current approach "has the potential to do great harm, especially without looking at the other side of the equation, which is contributions reform" that doesn't appear to be in the forthcoming rulemaking, Wein said. "You’re pitting these essential programs against each other if there is one overall cap."
The Consortium for School Networking doesn't want to see a situation where E-rate for schools and other learning institutions has to jockey with rural hospitals for the rural healthcare portion of USF, CoSN representatives said. "From the moment we heard about this, we’ve been concerned," said CEO Keith Krueger. "There is nothing that has lessened our anxiety about this." E-Rate and other USF programs are working fine as-is, said CoSN lawyer Reg Leichty, so why change things now, he asked.