Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC

Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565) lead House sponsor Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., told us she's cautiously optimistic ahead of the opening of a discharge petition Thursday to force a floor vote on the measure (H.Res. 1119). HR-6929/S-3565 proposes allocating $7 billion for FY 2024 to the ailing FCC connectivity program. Thursday marks the end of a seven-legislative-day waiting period before Clarke can begin collecting signatures on the petition, which would require backing from at least 218 members before becoming effective (see 2404100075). Republican observers, even those who support giving ACP stopgap money, are skeptical the discharge petition bid will succeed.Read More >>

The House Commerce Committee said Tuesday it plans an April 30 hearing on a revised draft version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The move represents an apparent reversal in panel Republicans' position on the measure, which would mandate U.S. automakers keep AM radio technology in future domestic-made vehicles, given they voiced skepticism about a previous iteration (HR-3413/S-1669) earlier in this Congress (see 2401050065). The AM radio bill's backers within and outside the broadcast industry pointed to the hearing announcement as a sign of momentum but stopped short of labeling it an indication House leaders had reached a clear-cut deal to ease the measure's passage through the lower chamber.Read More >>

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (Ohio) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Brett Guthrie (Ky.) are highlighting reaching a deal on an expansive spectrum legislative package as a top communications policy priority if they succeed retiring Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) as the panel's lead Republican in the next Congress. Both contenders separately told us their spectrum focus wouldn’t waver if Rodgers and other congressional leaders reach a deal this year that restores the FCC’s lapsed auction authority and other airwaves-related priorities. Talks on spectrum legislation have largely stalled since early 2023, but Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and others are shopping new proposals (see 2403210063).Read More >>

Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., is circulating a discharge petition (H.Res. 1119) in a bid to force a floor vote on her Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), which would appropriate $7 billion to keep the ailing FCC broadband fund running through the end of FY 2024. Clarke's petition will likely help ACP backers in their push to advance the funding proposal out of the lower chamber and amplify pressure on Congress to act before the program's current money runs out in the coming weeks, lobbyists told us. Advocates acknowledge they still face headwinds in the Senate, where leaders continue eyeing alternative vehicles for the appropriation. Congress approved the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending package last month without ACP money (see 2403280001).Read More >>

Advocates of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program believe funding for both priorities remains available this year, despite Congress having omitted funding in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending package enacted last week (see 2403210067). Program backers acknowledge funding will be more difficult as the FY24 package was their best opportunity. They also admit appropriations politics will only prove trickier with Capitol Hill hunkering down for the 2024 election campaign.Read More >>