ICS Revamp Bill Backers See Improved Prospects After Senate Commerce Vote

Backers of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act (S-1541) believe changes to the measure the Senate Commerce Committee approved Tuesday greatly strengthened its prospects of passing Congress this year. S-1541 and the similar Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act (HR-2489) would bar communications providers from receiving site commissions from prisons and other confinement facilities (see 2104160067). Senate Commerce advanced the amended S-1541 and two other measures -- the Next Generation Telecommunications Act (S-3014) and Low Power Protection Act (S-3405) -- on voice votes.

S-1541 lead sponsor Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., told us she doesn’t think “there will be any problems” to prevent the measure from “moving forward” through Congress because of changes to the measure that drew the National Sheriffs’ Association to back the bill. The amended S-1541 would require the FCC to factor industry-wide average costs for telephone and advanced communication services, along with safety and security costs, in new ratesetting cycles.

“We worked with” the group “over at least an 18-month period” to reach a deal on the amended language, Duckworth said. She also noted support from Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “I really appreciate” Wicker “keeping an open mind” when S-1541 was originally filed last year “and saying I can’t support it the way it is” but working with Duckworth’s office on consensus changes.

Duckworth’s deal with NSA “presents a much better opportunity than has existed in the past” for S-1541 to pass Congress, a senior Wicker aide told us. “We’ll have to see” how Duckworth wants to proceed with securing floor time for the measure.

The S-1541 changes “will make it more feasible for it to pass this legislative session,” said Worth Rises Executive Director Bianca Tylek. She noted one concession included the FCC having to adopt rules no sooner than 18 months and no later than 24 months.

The committee vote is a “good signal that this bill now has a really good chance of getting through Congress this year,” said United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry Policy Adviser Cheryl Leanza. It’s “been a pretty long road to get out of committee,” Leanza said: “I think it’s a strong testament to everybody’s commitment to try to find a way forward.”

Verizon "commends the bill's passage," said Senior Vice President-Public Policy and Government Affairs Kathy Grillo. "Artificially high rates for prison phone calls can make it prohibitively expensive to communicate with family and remain connected to resources," she said, and the bill "gives the FCC the tools to address this problem."

Wicker touted his S-3014, which would create a group to advise Congress on 6G and other next-gen wireless technologies (see 2110200066). “It is critical that the U.S. maintain its role as a leader in deploying secure, innovative and high-quality networks, not just for the economic benefits these networks bring but to keep the U.S. globally competitive,” Wicker said. The National Association of Tower Erectors and Wireless Infrastructure Association praised Commerce for advancing the measure.

Senate Commerce cleared a substitute amendment to the measure from Wicker and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. Senate Commerce also approved three amendments from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and one from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. Lee sought to increase the number of GOP-nominated members of the 6G advisory group, give all members of Congress access to information collected by the group on national security once it’s wound up, and sunset the $10 million appropriated to the group once it disbands.

S-3014's advancement makes it more likely that pending talks to marry elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) will result in a conference bill that creates a 6G group, lobbyists told us. HR-4521 includes similar language drawn from the House-passed Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (HR-4045).

Senate Commerce advanced S-3405 with an amendment from Lee. The measure would require the FCC to open a new filing window during which qualifying low-power TV stations could apply for and receive Class A status (see 2112210058). Lee’s amendment bars S-3405’s language from being “construed to affect” any FCC decision on “completion of the transition, relocation or reimbursement of entities” affected by the broadcast incentive auction.

The LPTV Broadcasters Association strongly criticized S-3405 after Senate Commerce advanced the measure. It “was engineered to benefit the select few and threw everyone else under the bus,” the association said in a statement. The group’s “papers submitted to the Committee went ignored and the Act was passed without consideration of the actual people it was designed to protect.” The group “will continue to speak out for our industry and the many small business owners around the country that have been poorly served by this disgraceful development.”

NAB believes S-3405 “offers a long-overdue opportunity for low power television stations operating in the smallest and mostly rural markets to gain Class A status and ensure their continued service into the future,” said President Curtis LeGeyt. “Providing important interference protections will allow these broadcasters to better serve their millions of viewers by hiring more journalists, investing in new equipment and transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard.”