WASHINGTON-Amid rumors of congressional fatigue with the thought of reforming the Federal Communications Commission, the agency’s chairman last week said reform efforts are going forward.
“This effort is real. It is happening. Many of the things in this plan are already happening … It will be a very different FCC than the one you see today,” Kennard said as he opened another forum on his draft strategic plan, which he originally released in August.
The strategic plan calls for the FCC to restructure its operations along functional lines rather than by industry sector by 2003. Kennard submitted the plan when it was believed the House Commerce Committee was working on an FCC reauthorization bill that would significantly change the agency.
However, action on the Senate side has slowed since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, began campaigning to be president.
Reports in the early part of last week said the House plans were on hold, but a spokesman for Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, denied that.
Ken Johnson conceded, however, that “from a political and practical standpoint,” legislation may not pass Congress “until we get a Republican in the White House.”
Kennard’s reorganization strategy is being met with some skepticism on the street, said Larry Spiwak of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies, an international think tank.
This skepticism is partially due to a breakdown of relations between the FCC and Congress and industry, said Iridium L.L.C.’s Patricia Mahoney, representing the Satellite Industry Association.
“The [FCC] needs to work on its relations with Congress and other agencies,” Mahoney said. While lobbying on the defense authorization bill, “we found much suspicion of the FCC and unwillingness to believe what the FCC says,” she commented.
The lack of an ability to work with Congress was reinforced by Kathryn C. Brown, FCC chief of staff, who said, “For the last three years, our request for funds [to make information more accessible] has been denied. This is a tension between the plan and implementation that I think is important that you understand.”
Getting information out to consumers has been an oft-cited goal of the FCC.
Even within the higher echelons of the FCC, there is some doubt FCC reform would result in any real changes. FCC Commissioner Michael Powell said he was “a little skeptical that you will see substantial differences in how we do our business,” during a panel last month at the PCS ’99 show.
Powell has been a proponent of eliminating the Sunshine Act, which precludes more than two commissioners from meeting at the same time unless it is at an open meeting. His proposal would allow administrative experts to review the process to see if allowing closed meetings would effectively allow more open discussion, said Peter Tenhula, senior legal adviser to Powell in describing his boss’ goals.
“The open meeting is scripted. It is all preparation among the legal advisers.
“If you are able to get the commissioners together, you really get deliberation between the people who are making the decisions,” Tenhula said.
