Clyburn Says USF Revision, States to Play Key Roles in Recovery

As broadband bills advance in states responding to the coronavirus, former acting and possibly next FCC Chair Mignon Clyburn said states will be at the “epicenter” of recovery work. Monday at the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities virtual conference, the Democrat sought an “uplifting and all-inclusive recovery” that would include a long-awaited USF contribution revamp and increasing Lifeline’s $9.25 monthly government-funded discount.

Clyburn is considered an early front-runner for FCC chair if Joe Biden is elected president in November (see 2006170053). The independent consultant replied in written Q&A with a zipper-mouth emoji when we asked about her interest.

COVID-19's impact “will be multi-layered and long-lasting," Clyburn told state regulators. “It will cement some people’s futures.” Clyburn hopes “we will recognize that and start addressing some of the issues that we have been punting for years.” Policymakers have kicked the can on USF contribution “to the point where everything else is crumbling around us,” said Clyburn. State members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service submitted a proposal but haven't agreed with this FCC (see 2005270023). Clyburn sees a “totally new reality” for Lifeline due to economic pain brought by COVID-19, she said: “Now you’ve got another layer of individuals” who need help, including middle-income people.

Pay attention to small ISPs hit the hardest by the pandemic, Clyburn said. They want to make the Keep America Connected commitment but don’t have the “wherewithal,” she said: “They’re crying for help.” Clyburn is “often sympathetic” to small providers that say states' eligible telecom carrier designation process is “burdensome and expensive,” she wrote in response to a question about a bill in Congress to eliminate state ETC designations for FCC broadband funding (see 2006110063).

Pennsylvania state senators supported a $10 million rural broadband grant program at a Communications & Technology Committee meeting Monday. The panel unanimously cleared SB-835 targeting broadband in unserved areas lacking 25/3 Mbps, with an amendment to change the state agency that would oversee the program and to repeal an existing state broadband tax credit. COVID-19 highlighted the need for better rural broadband to support distance learning, author Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R) said at the hearing livestreamed from Harrisburg. The panel unanimously backed HB-2438 to adjust easement rules so electric cooperatives may more easily use existing infrastructure to provide broadband. Co-ops would need to provide other broadband providers with access to their infrastructure on a nondiscriminatory basis. It passed the House 202-0 earlier this month.

The Louisiana House Commerce Committee quickly OK’d a do-over on its own electric co-op legislation. Members all supported SB-10 Monday with an amendment that included allowing co-ops to deny access to poles in certain cases including where there's insufficient capacity or a public safety concern. The Senate-passed bill could be on the House floor Wednesday, sponsor Sen. Beth Mizell (R) told us last week (see 2006170058). Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) supports SB-10 as passed by the Senate (see 2006160051). “I appreciate you letting me come for a rerun of SB-406,” Mizell said at the hearing livestreamed from Baton Rouge. “This is a bill that is clean as a whistle.” It will address large parts of Louisiana that were “left behind” on broadband, she said.

Louisiana’s Senate received two broadband tax measures Friday that the House passed by wide margins Thursday. Lawmakers voted 80-11 for HB-68 to create an income or corporations franchise tax credit for FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund winning bidders, and 94-3 for HB-69 to give RDOF winners sales-and-use tax rebates on fiber facilities.

Minnesota senators voted 67-0 Friday for one of multiple broadband measures in that state responding to COVID-19 (see 2005070045). SF-6 would appropriate $15 million for distance learning, $10 million for broadband development and $2 million for telemedicine equipment this fiscal year. The Vermont Senate voted 143-1 that day for H-966 to allocate more than $43 million from the state’s coronavirus relief fund for broadband connectivity. “The COVID-19 public health emergency and the required social distancing it has engendered have served as an accelerant to the socioeconomic disparities between the connected and the unconnected in our State,” says the bill.

A California bill to raise the minimum speed standard to 25 Mbps symmetrical could be on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, said George Soares, policy consultant for SB-1130 sponsor Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D). Expect no more amendments on the Senate side, but possibly some clarifications after it gets to the Assembly, he told us. While negotiations continue on final language, Gonzalez wants to keep it a fiber bill, and speed standards won't be reduced from the current version, Soares said.

Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon emailed Monday, “So long as eligibility and future proofing remain in the bill, it remains a fiber infrastructure bill.” He predicted industry probably “will fight hard to lower the standards to 2015 pre-COVID-19 levels.” Appropriators voted 5-2 Thursday for the bill (see 2006180057) with an amendment to require the California Public Utilities Commission to ensure all approved projects can be completed without increasing the California Advanced Services Fund surcharge.

Two Hawaii House committees planned to have had a joint hearing later Monday on SB-2527 to create a state broadband grant program. The North Carolina House scheduled a Tuesday floor vote on HB-1205 to speed deployment by streamlining leasing on state property.