House votes to limit FCC on regulations, merger authority

The House passed a bill that would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do more study and require more public input before releasing regulations, and weaken the FCC's ability to dictate the terms of mergers between communications mergers.

The House voted 247-174 in favor of H.R. 3309, the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act. It was passed over the objection of all Democrats save 12 — Democrats spent much of the day arguing that the bill was a GOP attempt to shut down the agency. "This bill would not reform the FCC, it would disable it," House Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA) said. "The bill erects procedural hurdles that make it more difficult for the FCC to protect consumers. It strips the FCC of its power to ensure that mergers between telecommunication companies are in the public interest. If this bill is enacted, it would stymie the ability of the agency to do much of anything, except produce reports for Congress."

Just before the final vote, the House accepted two Democratic amendments to the bill. One would clarify that the bill will not impede the FCC's ability to provide communications to alert people of dangerous weather, and the other would say nothing in the bill will interfere with the FCC's rule in providing communications to state and local first responders. Another amendment, from Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), would make the FCC's handling of Freedom of Information Act requests more transparent. But like so many bills that have passed the House, the FCC bill has no chance of being considered in the Democratic Senate. On top of that, the Obama administration said it would veto the bill if it somehow made it through the Congress.