Legislation introduced by Democrats Friday targets the consumer impacts of AI on housing, credit and education decisions. Introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Yvette Clarke of New York, the Algorithmic Accountability Act would require companies to test their algorithms through impact assessments analyzing the technology’s effectiveness and bias. The bill creates a public repository at the FTC and adds 75 agency employees to enforce laws related to AI.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., filed the Closing Long Overdue Steamlining Encumberances to Help Expeditiously Generate Approved Permits (Close the Gap) Act Wednesday in a bid to streamline federal siting processes for broadband projects. The measure would direct the Agriculture and Interior departments to issue new regulations to streamline the process for broadband applications on federal land. It would also create new National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act review exemptions, including for projects on land that’s previously been permitted for deployments and collocation or replacement of radios on existing towers. “It shouldn’t take years for internet service providers to get approval to install or make simple repairs on federal land,” Barrasso said. “Streamlining the permitting process is a vital step in closing the digital divide in rural communities.” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr hailed the Close the Gap Act, saying in a statement it “would accelerate high-speed Internet builds across rural and remote parts of the country. For too long, a cumbersome and outdated permitting process has delayed and deterred broadband builds on Federal lands,” where “installing Internet infrastructure is vital to reaching those communities that remain on the wrong side of the digital divide.” Barrasso’s office cited support from the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, Dish, the Fiber Broadband Association, NCTA, NTCA, T-Mobile, The Permitting Institute, USTelecom and WTA.

Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee member Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., raised doubts during a Tuesday hearing on the FCC’s FY 2024 funding request (see 2309190001) about how much commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel prioritizes a push for fully funding the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. Rosenworcel and others repeatedly prodded lawmakers this year to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to fully satisfy reimbursement costs for carriers beyond the initial $1.9 billion Congress originally allocated the program. Rosenworcel cited the commission’s statutory obligation to begin prorating those payments absent appropriations (see 2305040085). Still, the matter “must not be your highest priority” because “it’s not in your budget request,” Manchin told Rosenworcel Tuesday. Rosenworcel cited her past communications with lawmakers about rip and replace funding. “We have made it a priority and we’re working with the carriers that have it in their networks right now to identify a way forward” amid the shortfall, she said. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., noted Congress allocated the program’s $1.9 billion in the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus package as a “one-time expenditure” (see 2012210055). Lawmakers also hope to include language in a spectrum legislative package from the House Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) that would give the FCC the rip and replace money up front and use some future auction revenue to cover the loan (see 2305240069), Van Hollen said.

Republicans asked the Biden administration to strengthen export controls against Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., after Huawei unveiled a new smartphone this month that may have been made through means that violated U.S. export restrictions. In a letter sent to the Bureau of Industry and Security last week, 10 House Republicans, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul of Texas, said they're “extremely troubled and perplexed” about BIS’ “inability to effectively write and enforce export control rules against violators, especially China.” They said BIS has continued to grant licenses to SMIC and other Chinese companies despite “continued Congressional pressure to adopt stricter policies.” They said both technology companies should be subject to “full blocking sanctions” and their executives should face criminal investigations, and the Commerce Department should revoke all of their existing license applications, add all their subsidiaries to the Entity List and take other measures to cut off a broad range of shipments to both firms. The lawmakers asked for a briefing with BIS and other agencies that oversee export controls by Sept. 28 and listed several recommendations for the administration to further limit sensitive technology exports to China, including by creating a new sanctions authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act specifically focused on China. The new sanctions authority should be used to target companies that “flout” export controls and should be leveraged to “designate SMIC and Huawei with full blocking sanctions.”

House Republican leaders’ proposed continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations through Oct. 31 would reduce ongoing funding for the FCC, FTC, NTIA and all other agencies by more than 8%, not accounting for inflation, from levels in the FY 2023 appropriations package enacted in December. Congress in that measure allocated the FCC more than $390 million, the FTC $430 million and NTIA $62 million (see 2212210077). The House CR has almost no chance of making it through the Senate due to Democratic opposition to the proposed funding cuts. It was also unclear if the CR could make it through the House due to resistance from some of the chamber’s most conservative Republicans. “I don't know” if the CR can pass the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters. “Every day will be a challenge. We've got a long week” and “we have to get together, figure it out, and move forward.”

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Sept. 21 hearing on rural broadband funding issues, as expected (see 2309120059), the Commerce Committee said Thursday night. Lobbyists believe the hearing will in part focus on both how to fit an extension of the affordable connectivity program into broader universal service legislation and how to change the USF contribution factor to include non-wireline entities. “High-speed broadband is essential to participate in today’s modern economy, yet some Americans still do not have reliable Internet access, especially in rural communities,” House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “Congress has dedicated an unprecedented amount of taxpayer dollars towards closing this digital divide. As these resources are made available and new funding programs are considered, it is critical that we ensure taxpayer dollars aren't being wasted or duplicated.” The panel will begin at 9 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a Sept. 20 confirmation hearing on FTC Republican nominees Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson (see 2307110048), Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., announced Wednesday. The committee also will consider the renomination of Democrat Rebecca Kelly Slaughter.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold an open hearing Tuesday on the national security implications of AI, as expected (see 2309070059). Witnesses are Meta Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, Marine Corps University professor Benjamin Jensen and George Washington University assistant professor Jeffrey Ding. The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in Hart 216.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., filed the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act Thursday in a bid to give the FCC clear authority to issue T-Mobile and other winning bidders the licenses they bought in the 2.5 GHz band auction last year. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has repeatedly defended the commission's decision to withhold the 2.5 GHz licenses (see 2309050060), citing the March expiration of its spectrum auction authority. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., are among those on Capitol Hill claiming Rosenworcel is using the licenses as a bargaining tool in slow talks on a broader spectrum legislative package (see 2308140073). “Currently, bureaucratic red tape is standing in the way of Louisianians’ wireless communications,” Kennedy said. “My 5G SALE Act offers a simple solution for providing rural Americans with access to broadband by giving the FCC the authority to finish transferring already auctioned spectrum to companies who offer 5G coverage.” Kennedy is likely to bring up the matter during a Tuesday Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the FCC’s FY 2024 budget request. That panel will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 124 Dirksen.

Congress should reject the Kids Online Safety Act and pursue bills that will improve privacy, competition and algorithmic transparency, a coalition of more than 100 parents of “trans and gender expansive kids” wrote Tuesday (see 2309050089). The legislation would “grant extraordinary new power to right wing state attorneys general to dictate what content younger users can see on social media, cutting our kids off from lifesaving online resources and community,” they wrote. Changes made to the bill don’t “fix the deadly flaw with the bill, which is that it gives the government the power to dictate what speech younger users can see online, and would subject everyone to increased surveillance in order to access information and speak out online,” Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer said. Co-author of the legislation Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us last week that sponsors have worked with the LGBTQ+ community to make changes that accommodate their “important” concerns. “We’re certainly satisfied with the high level of support that we’ve received,” said Blumenthal. “There is very powerful, bipartisan support in the Senate ... and I looked forward to its passage.”