GOP lawmakers try to limit FCC’s ability to help consumers

[Commentary] Republican Reps are working on two proposals that would hinder Federal Communications Commission efforts to help consumers. The House of Representatives may vote as soon as the week of April 11 on a measure that could disrupt network neutrality rules by stripping the FCC of rate regulation authority. Separately, the House Communications Subcommittee on April 13 will hold a hearing on a bill that would limit the amount of money the FCC's Lifeline program could spend helping poor people purchase Internet service.

The rate regulation bill, approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee over objections from Democrats last month, would strip the FCC of authority to set broadband rates or review whether a rate is reasonable. Although the FCC has no plans to tell broadband providers exactly what they can charge, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler argued in March that the bill's broad language could prevent the FCC from enforcing net neutrality rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The bill could also prevent the FCC from taking action against zero-rating schemes in which ISPs favor content by exempting it from data caps, and it would "cast doubt on the ability of the Commission to ensure that broadband providers receiving universal service subsidies do not overcharge their consumers," he argued. The bill to limit broadband subsidies for poor people was proposed by Rep Austin Scott (R-GA) and is titled the "Controlling the Unchecked and Reckless Ballooning of Lifeline Act of 2016."