Chairman Pai: It's Official Policy to Release Meeting Items in Advance

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has officially declared an end to the pilot project of publishing the text of meeting items three weeks before they are voted, but only to declare it his policy going forward. That came at a press conference following the FCC's public meeting Oct 24.

The chairman early on instituted the test as part of his transparency agenda. Asked at the meeting about the status of the test, he first said it had been a success and making it permanent was certainly something he was willing to discuss with his colleagues and "working with the commission staff to determine the feasibility and benefits of doing so. But after a pause, he continued: "In fact, you know what, let's just go ahead and declare the pilot over. It is not the official policy of the FCC to release these at least three weeks in advance of the monthly meeting." As leader of the loyal opposition under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Ajit Pai was a frequent critic of FCC process, saying it lacked transparency—he has long argued for letting the public know what is being voted on at public meetings—and said it was the kind of regulatory certainty that a competitive marketplace needs.