Liberal and centrist Democratic factions sparred Tuesday over whether and how to trim a proposed budget reconciliation package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters she’s “very disappointed that we are not going with the original $3.5 trillion.” Telecom money included in a House Commerce Committee-approved portion of Democrats’ Build Back Better Act reconciliation bill, including $10 billion for Next Generation-911 and $4 billion for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund, could get trimmed or cut (see 2110010001). Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona want a smaller measure of $1.5 trillion-$2 trillion. Pelosi told House Democrats in a Monday letter that to pass both reconciliation and the linked Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) by Oct. 31, “it is essential that difficult decisions must be made very soon.” Liberal congressional Democrats are “prepared to negotiate, we are prepared to compromise, but we are not going to negotiate with ourselves,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters.
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Undaunted by legal issues flagged by Frontier Communications, the California Public Utilities Commission greenlit a proposed program to enforce conditions in its order clearing the telco’s bankruptcy reorganization. Commissioners unanimously adopted the draft resolution T-17734 as part of its consent agenda at a virtual Thursday meeting. In another CPUC proceeding, telcos asked what disaster recovery rules have to do with the agency’s broadband rulemaking.
Congressional Democratic leaders moved back the deadline for enacting the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) and a related budget reconciliation package to Oct. 31, after renewed infighting between the party’s liberal and moderate factions over the latter bill (see 2110010001). Oct. 31 also is expiration of a 30-day extension of the surface transportation statute (HR-5434) enacted Saturday in a bid to buy more time to pass HR-3684, which includes $65 billion for broadband. “Not every member will get everything he or she wanted” in HR-3684 or reconciliation still under negotiations, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York Monday in a letter to the chamber’s Democratic caucus. “At the end of the day, we will pass legislation that will dramatically improve the lives of the American people. I believe we are going to do just that in the month of October.” A final reconciliation deal needs to happen “within a matter of days, not weeks,” for Democrats to meet that goal, Schumer said. President Joe Biden indicated during a Friday meeting with House Democrats that they'd likely be "working with a lower topline number" for the reconciliation bill than the $3.5 trillion originally envisioned "and decisions must therefore be made regarding the size and scope" of the measure, Pelosi said in a Monday letter to the caucus.
NARUC changed its Nov. 7-10 annual meeting to a partially virtual event. The Louisville event was originally in person only (see 2108120069). “We decided to have a hybrid meeting based on information we have received from members and others in the regulatory community” indicating “concerns about traveling,” a NARUC spokesperson emailed Monday. “To ensure that more members and stakeholders have an opportunity to participate in the meeting, we felt it would be best to move to a hybrid format.” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr will join a Nov. 10 panel about USF contribution, the spokesperson said. Carr will participate virtually, his aide said. All general sessions and some others, including the USF panel, are to be streamed, the NARUC spokesperson said.
No major changes were made to the final Further NPRM approved during the FCC's Thursday meeting tightening rules for gateway providers to curb illegal robocalls originating abroad, according to our comparison to the draft (see 2109240060). Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, 60 days for replies.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology extended through March 31 a waiver of the push notification requirement for fixed and mode II personal/portable TV white space devices, set to have expired Thursday. The original waiver was approved in a 2015 order on Part 15 rules. “This action will ensure that manufacturers may continue to market previously approved white space devices, and that users may continue to operate them,” said a Thursday notice: “The ability of all approved white space devices to satisfy the at-least-once-daily database re-check requirement will ensure that wireless microphones will continue to receive interference protection from white space devices.”
FCC commissioners approved an NPRM on making networks more resilient during disasters 4-0 Thursday, as expected (see 2109280051). Commissioners said more mandates could come as a result of the investigation. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC plans a virtual field hearing as part of the Oct. 26 meeting on Hurricane Ida. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr traveled to Louisiana this week to tour areas hit by the latest storm. Commissioners also unanimously adopted an order on foreign ownership and an NPRM about closing two methods for scammers taking control of victims' mobile phones, SIM swapping and port-out fraud. Such actions were as expected (see 2109280009).
FCC commissioners OK’d a Further NPRM on the future of the 4.9 GHz band 4-0, as expected (see 2109280051), and an order that reverses an order from last year giving control of the spectrum to the states. It also partially lifts a licensing freeze on the band. Commissioner Brendan Carr voted at Thursday's commissioners meeting for the FNPRM but concurred on overturning the original order adopted 3-2 under Republicans over dissents then by now-acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
NAB's November FCC petition for clarification of ATSC 3.0 multicast rules is seen as making slow progress (see 2105280035), broadcast industry officials told us. A workaround developed by broadcasters and the Media Bureau requires some 3.0 stations to request special temporary authority every six months, and the bureau has granted 34 STA requests, said Media Bureau Legal Adviser Evan Morris on an FCBA webinar Tuesday.
Few consumers' phone service will likely be affected if their provider hasn't filed in the FCC robocall mitigation database, experts said in recent interviews. Some had raised concerns that consumers may be unable to make calls if their provider failed to file in the database by the June 30 deadline (see 2104200042).