Thune: E-rate Hot Spots' CRA Senate Vote Unlikely Before Late March

Thune told us S.J.Res. 7 and other CRA measures remain on the Senate’s pending agenda, but the priority this week will be confirming a set of Trump administration nominees and passing a continuing resolution (HR-1968) that would extend current federal funding levels for the FCC, NTIA and other federal agencies through Sept. 30 (see 2503100060). The Senate voted 77-19 Tuesday afternoon to invoke cloture on DOJ Antitrust Division head nominee Gail Slater, President Donald Trump’s special assistant to the president for technology, telecommunications and cybersecurity policy at the National Economic Council during his first administration. The chamber appeared likely to confirm Slater on Tuesday night by a similar margin.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, S.J.Res. 7’s lead sponsor, indicated in a recent interview that he had no immediate plans to target other 2024 FCC actions for CRA rollback. Cruz told us he isn't readying any other FCC CRA resolutions “at this point, but we're still assessing regulations that may be appropriate” for rescission. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, a GOP S.J.Res. 7 co-sponsor, told us that the FCC's April 2024 net neutrality order would have been a ripe target for a CRA resolution if it were eligible and if the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hadn't overturned the ruling in January (see 2501020047). A three-judge 6th Circuit panel rejected public interest groups’ petition for an en banc rehearing of the case Tuesday (see 2503110050).

Senate Commerce member Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, another Republican S.J.Res. 7 co-sponsor, didn’t mention the measure specifically during Tuesday's Incompas event (see 2503110058) but noted that CRA resolutions are “very prevalent … on the Senate floor” in the early days of this Congress as Republicans try to undo “regulations” from the Biden administration that party members objected to last year. “I think that bodes well for less regulations being promulgated … in this administration,” he said. Senate Democrats are hoping a few Republicans will reject S.J.Res. 7 if it comes up for a vote (see 2503060059).

The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition, National Education Association and 30 other groups urged senators Monday to vote against S.J.Res. 7. “This resolution, if passed, would prevent millions of students and library patrons across the country from obtaining internet access,” they said in a letter to senators. The Communications Act “does not limit support to classrooms. In fact, E-Rate has supported internet access in administrative offices, parking lots, and library bookmobiles for several years, even though they are not ‘classrooms.’” The groups suggested that the FCC “can address the future of the E-Rate hotspot lending program at a later date. Deferring to the FCC will allow time for more public discussion and not harm the almost 20,000 schools and libraries nationwide that are in the process of submitting hotspot applications in the current E-Rate funding year.”

Annie Chestnut Tutor, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation's Tech Policy Center, said Monday that Congress or Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency advisory group “should conduct a thorough audit” of E-rate “to ensure that the program truly benefits children rather than serving as a vehicle for arbitrage and fraud.” Tutor criticized “the program’s expansion into areas like Wi-Fi hotspots and Internet access on school buses -- both of which extend telecommunications services beyond the classroom” and the initiative’s statutory mandate.