Thune: E-rate Hot Spots CRA Senate Vote Coming but Unlikely This Week
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday night that he is unlikely to bring up for floor action this week a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. “We're doing” two other non-telecom CRA measures this week, led by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and John Kennedy, R-La., Thune said.
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“We haven't made any immediate decisions” on when other CRA measures might come to the floor, Thune told us. Reports circulated Friday that Senate leaders were eyeing floor action on S.J.Res. 7 as soon as this week. Thune said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the Senate was moving on Kennedy's CRA measure (S.J.Res. 11) and Hoeven’s proposal (S.J.Res. 12) because of their common theme of increasing energy availability. The Senate voted 54-42 Tuesday on the motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 11.
Thune told us he expects S.J.Res. 7, which Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas and 12 other panel Republicans filed in late January (see 2501270043), will eventually get a floor vote. He noted that Cruz also has other CRA measures “teed up.” 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 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.
The House Commerce Committee was still debating Tuesday afternoon an oversight plan for the 119th Congress that, in part, proposes the panel “investigate whether regulatory policies are helping or hindering broadband deployment.” House Commerce “will examine what procedures are in place to control waste, fraud, and abuse, whether the funds are appropriately targeted, and the impact of the funding on jobs and the economy,” the plan said.
House Commerce Democrats proposed an amendment to the plan that would expand the panel’s oversight responsibility to also examine broadband affordability “to ensure that the cost of service is not a barrier to broadband adoption for consumers.” House Commerce should “conduct oversight to ensure compliance with statutory requirements related to affordability, including but not limited to requirements for BEAD grant recipients to provide a low-cost service option for eligible customers,” the Democrats’ proposal said.