State Groups Upbeat on Better FCC Relationship

Meetings make states hopeful about closer FCC rapport under President Joe Biden, said officials from NARUC and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates in recent interviews. Local officials seek a louder voice at the federal agency. “The relationship between state commissions and the FCC over the last four years” under then-President Donald Trump was “less than an example of cooperative federalism,” said NARUC President Paul Kjellander. FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel reacted favorably to states' hopes.

“Where the rubber hits the road is at the state, and for there to be this divide or friction makes absolutely no sense,” said former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a member of the Biden transition team that met virtually with NARUC before inauguration. Under the new administration, she told us, “what you will see is more of a spirit of cooperation.”

State commissioners look "forward to a new opportunity to reengage with the FCC and figure out ways we can work more cooperatively,” said Kjellander, a Republican Idaho commissioner. “We have to do a better job of being involved and being part of the process, as opposed to being largely ignored.” Kjellander noted it’s “a two-way street. We can’t put all the blame on the FCC, and they can’t put all the blame on us.”

NARUC’s relationship with the Biden administration is off to “a good start,” said Kjellander. Within 48 hours of his sending the Biden-Harris telecom transition team a letter Dec. 16 about NARUC priorities, “we had set up a meeting,” he recalled. Kjellander, Telecom Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson and NARUC staff met virtually with Clyburn and others, he said. The federal side “recognized that there was a need to improve the relationship.”

State consumer advocates had “no animosity” with Chairman Ajit Pai’s FCC, but “there just was less of an ear towards some of the consumer issues,” said NASUCA Executive Director David Springe. “We hope to reverse some of that with the new administration.”

NASUCA Telecom Committee Chair Regina Costa described the relationship with the old FCC as “friendly opposition.” The Republican commission tried to “undo” much of what the Democratic FCC had done -- and NASUCA had supported -- under then-President Barack Obama, she said. While hoping for “a more cooperative relationship,” Costa predicted states will be “stepping up” in the absence of federal policy in areas like privacy and net neutrality.

Meetings

NARUC and the Biden team had a “positive conversation” about broadband policy, with NARUC urging the administration to quickly fill seats on and recommit to federal-state joint boards, Kjellander said. They also discussed states’ concerns about low state and local membership relative to industry on the former FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, he said. Former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in November condemned the USF joint board, of which he was federal chair, as ineffective (see 2011100060). “That’s on him,” said Kjellander. O'Rielly declined to comment.

NASUCA joined one virtual meeting with the FCC's Rosenworcel, along with many other public interest groups, said Costa. The Jan. 27 meeting was to “take our temperature” and “start the discussion,” she said. “We saw that as a very positive thing.”

Rosenworcel "shares the sentiment that we are stronger when we work in partnership with state and local authorities," a spokesperson emailed Friday. "We can accomplish far more for the American people in addressing our country’s connectivity challenges and supporting our economic recovery if we work together."

Like NARUC, NASUCA sees revitalizing joint boards as a priority, said Costa. State members of the USF board, where NASUCA has a seat, proposed revamping the USF contribution factor, but the federal side led by O’Rielly pushed it aside, she said. The FCC should share more and better information on network resiliency and broadband availability and pricing, the NASUCA officials said.

The Biden administration seeks a “whole-of-nation approach to addressing the issues before us,” said Clyburn, who was acting FCC chairman for part of 2013. “The people on the front line are the ones at the state level.” View the communications outages item on the FCC’s March 17 agenda as an “omen of things to come,” she said. That proposed order would give states long-requested access to filings in the FCC network outage and disaster information reporting systems (see 2102240063). “That item is a reflection of state input” and “what the times call for,” Clyburn said.

The joint board structure is “one of the best tools that we have to achieve that optimal cooperative federalism framework” and doesn’t need to be reinvented, said Clyburn, noting she didn’t find it ineffective when she was a federal chair. “We got recommendations that challenged the FCC and better enabled a spirit of cooperation.”

Clyburn supported states crafting their own privacy and net neutrality rules when the federal government “punted,” she said. “When you don’t do what you should do as a federal body, you should not be surprised that the states will protect its people.” Clyburn is familiar with the “issues and sensitivities that state commissioners deal with every day” from 11 years on the South Carolina Public Service Commission before her FCC appointment, she noted. Clyburn said that was “very beneficial -- not just for me, not just for NARUC -- but ... for the commission,” because it was a “visual reminder of ... cooperative federalism.”

Cities

Cities want things from the FCC, too.

Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu “will be standing up for local governments to have a say and help shape access for our residents,” the Democratic city councilor said. Wu wants to work with the federal government as she seeks to close affordability and reliability gaps in her city, she said. Localities know “who is falling through those gaps” and can play an advocacy role at the national level, said Wu, highlighting her comments on the FCC emergency broadband benefit. “We need to make sure our voices our heard in all these federal decisions.”

Wu acknowledged friction between localities and the previous FCC, including on wireless infrastructure orders that preempted local government authority in the right of way. “As someone who is fighting for local government to have every bit of authority and power to act, it’s troubling to see the way that was handled, but the larger issue is that we need 5G deployment across the entire city of Boston, and the small-cell attachments can’t just be in more affluent areas,” she said.

The FCC should reach out to more communities when making rules, said National League of Cities Information Technology and Communications Committee Chair John Fogle on a Feb. 11 FCBA webinar. The FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee is useful for getting such input, said Fogle, an IAC member. Bringing stakeholders into the rulemaking process early might avoid “some issues that would come up later during the comment period,” suggested National Conference of State Legislatures Senior Policy Director Abbie Gruwell. “The more that the FCC can include states and locals before we get to that point is very helpful.”