FCC Process Reform

On May 13, 2011, the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on reforming the Federal Communications Commission.

The Federal Communications Commission needs to overhaul the way it reviews mergers, Commissioner Robert McDowell will tell the Commerce Committee's Communications subcommittee on May 13.

A House Communications Subcommittee Democratic staff memo warns that Federal Communications Commission reforms like shot clocks on decisions or deadlines for reports and comments, which were included among possible reforms by Republican leadership, "could result in unintended consequences that jeopardize the FCC's independence and weaken the agency's decision-making process."

A spokesperson for the House Communications Subcommittee confirms that Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker will not be testifying at its FCC reform hearing Friday (May 13), which was slated to host all five commissioners.

While Congress has been off on a break over the last two weeks, the five men and women who make up the Federal Communications Commission have been able to breathe a little easier. Soon, that’s going to change.

A key House subcommittee is planning a hearing on process reform at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Scheduled for May 3, the session will include the four FCC commissioners and chairman as witnesses.