House Appropriations Bill Would Bar FCC's Political Ad Rule

A House Appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that includes a provision that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from implementing a rule requiring television broadcasters to post online how much political candidates pay for television ads.

The language was included in the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. Specifically, the bill would bar the FCC from using any of its funds to implement the political ad order, which it approved in April. "The FCC order represents a real compliance cost to broadcasters," Subcommittee Chairwoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) said in a statement. "The information in the political file is already available to the public. Anyone who asks for it can get it. This is micromanagement by the FCC, and it leads to important questions about why recipients of campaign dollars are being held to a different standard than the spenders of campaign dollars. Furthermore, I can't support an approach to this issue that singles out television broadcasters but excepts radio, cable TV, satellite radio and TV, newspapers, direct mail, outdoor advertising and the Internet."

Free Press blasted the Appropriations Committee's move. "It's clear that the broadcast industry is pulling out all the stops to bury information about political ad spending on the public airwaves," Free Press Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright said. "What's more appalling is that some elected officials are willing to help them do it."