Senate Commerce Eyes Pro-ACP Spectrum Bill Changes; Rosenworcel Mourns Expiration

The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing additional changes to the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) in hopes of jump-starting its prospects as a viable vehicle for resurrecting the FCC’s expired affordable connectivity program, lobbyists said in interviews. Committee leaders are hoping further revisions will allow them to raise S-4207 during a potential mid-June meeting, lobbyists told us. Senate Commerce pulled S-4207 from consideration twice last month, including fully postponing a May 16 executive meeting (see 2405160066). The Biden administration and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel made a final call Friday for Congress to keep ACP running as the program’s time expired.

Senate Commerce leaders are eyeing a variety of options for revising S-4207 as they seek Republican supporters to help provide momentum for it to reach the floor, lobbyists told us. They are continuing to consider several Senate Commerce Republicans who are also members of the Armed Services Committee, including Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, as potential wild cards, lobbyists said. Top Commerce GOP leaders, including ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota, have declared themselves at an impasse with panel Democratic leaders (see 2405210056).

Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is considering scaling back S-4207’s scope so it reauthorizes only the FCC's spectrum auction mandate, lobbyists said. That would involve jettisoning some of the measure’s band-specific language and extending the renewal period past the current Sept. 30, 2029, expiration date. A longer reauthorization would allow lawmakers to justify S-4207 as an offset for the bill’s proposed $7 billion in stopgap ACP funding and $3.08 billion to fully pay for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, lobbyists said.

Senate Commerce has also eyed repurposing some of the Commerce Department’s unobligated COVID-19 aid funding to pay for ACP and rip and replace, lobbyists said. Some committee Democrats believe that could prove an attractive alternative funding source for some Republican lawmakers, lobbyists said. Repurposing the COVID-19 money may be a nonstarter given resistance from some Commerce Department officials, other lobbyists said.

Other legislative options remain, although their prospects are unclear. Any solution faces long odds of getting through Congress this summer, lobbyists said. Alternatives include a bipartisan proposal led by Senate Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., that would allocate $6 billion for ACP for FY 2024 and $3.08 billion for rip and replace (S-4317). ACP supporters also noted Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., recently filed the ACP Improvement and Extension Act (HR-8466) to fund the program at $6 billion.

“ACP benefits have ceased” and former enrollees “are looking to Congress to provide the funding needed to keep the ACP up and running,” Rosenworcel said in letters to Cantwell, House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and other senior lawmakers. “Additional funding from Congress remains the only near-term solution to keep this vital program up and running” and the FCC “stands ready to resume the program if additional funding is provided.” The Biden administration also renewed its push for stopgap ACP funding, noting President Joe Biden sought $6 billion for the program for FY 2024 as part of an October supplemental appropriations request (see 2310250075). Congress didn’t include the money in a March FY24 minibus package (see 2403280001).

ACP “filled an important gap that provider low-income programs, state and local affordability programs, and the Lifeline program cannot fully address,” Rosenworcel said. Lifeline “may alleviate some financial pressure for certain ACP households,” but it's “not a replacement for the ACP. To be clear, not all ACP households will qualify for Lifeline. Moreover, by statute, many ACP providers are not eligible to participate in the Lifeline program.” Comcast Executive Vice President-Public Policy Broderick Johnson noted the ISP has worked hard "to communicate to our customers their robust choices at affordable prices to stay connected,” including the Now line of prepaid broadband, mobile and streaming services (see 2404180012).

Rosenworcel separately wrote to top ACP supporters to mourn the program’s funding exhaustion and thank them for their help in trying to keep it running. “I am grateful for the work you have done, and I want you to know that legislative efforts are ongoing in Congress to explore ways to extend the program and provide additional funding for the ACP,” she said in an undated letter to Brenda Villanueva, The Utility Reform Network managing director. “Although this is not the finale any of us envisioned for the ACP, we achieved something many denied before, and you knew all along: that if we want to reach 100 percent of us with broadband, we need to have programs like this to address internet affordability.”