Senate Commerce Committee Tees Up FCC-Blocking Bill
Submitted: November 28, 2007 - 11:44am
Last updated: February 21, 2008 - 10:49am
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE TEES UP FCC-BLOCKING BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate Commerce Committee set Dec. 4 as the date to mark up (amend, debate and perhaps vote on) the Media Ownership Act of 2007, a bill that would effectively block Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin from holding a Dec. 18 vote on relaxing the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban. The committee will also hear from the full complement of commissioners at a Dec. 13 hearing on "current proceedings involving media and telecommunications policy." Both actions are attempts to put the breaks on Martin's effort to wrap up a media-ownership review now a year-and-a-half in the making. The Media Ownership Act would require the FCC, generally, to publish any proposed rule changes in the Federal Register 90 days prior to a vote, giving the public 60 days to comment and another 30 days for reply comments. If the FCC does not provide the requisite notice and comment periods for proposed rule changes, the bill said, the rule changes will be voided. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6505728.html?rssid=193
