Cruz Plans CRA Measure Undoing FCC's Order Allowing E-rate Funding for Off-Campus Hot Spots
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, plans to file a Congressional Review Act resolution next week to undo a July 2024 FCC order that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
internet services (see 2407180024), a Cruz spokesperson said Thursday. The E-rate CRA and two unrelated “measures are forthcoming,” the spokesperson added. Cruz has repeatedly opposed proposals expanding E-rate’s scope to pay for off-campus hot spots (see 2307310063). The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals tossed Maurine and Matthew Molak's challenge to the July order (see 2409260046) but is still reviewing another case the couple brought against the FCC’s 2023 declaratory ruling (docket 23-60641) clarifying that Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding. Lobbyists said Cruz’s E-rate CRA resolution may not be congressional Republicans’ only bid to undo an FCC rule enacted during the administration of outgoing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during a Tuesday American Petroleum Institute event that he and other Republicans “are scrubbing right now to determine what is eligible” for CRA action.