WASHINGTON-House Republicans, making good on their pledge to downsize the Federal Communications Commission, last week took steps to cut funding, rein in merger authority and curtail lobbying and media outreach activities of the agency.
The actions, part of a broader effort to reform the FCC, played out in different pieces of legislation.
An appropriations bill passed by the House last Monday would reduce FCC funding from its current level of $210 million to $208 million in fiscal 2001.
As part of that cut, the FCC’s congressional and media relations offices would be reduced in size by half.
“Over the past several years, we have succeeded in reducing the federal bureaucracy, which is shrinking day by day. However, I point out one exception, the FCC,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), author the amendment to reduce spending for the FCC’s office of media relations. “Ironically, since the passage of the telecommunications act of 1996, in which we deregulated the telecom industry and reduced government intervention, the size and staff at the FCC has increased!”
Jacob Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget, recently warned of agency-wide furloughs and delays in information technology upgrades at the FCC if Congress ignores the administration’s request of $237 million for the commission in FY 2001.
“The House vote will make it more difficult for the FCC to review 271 long distance applications and mergers appropriately, consider license transfers thoughtfully and generate billions of dollars in auction revenue that fund so many other appropriations,” said FCC spokesperson Joy Howell.
In addition, Howell said the Commerce appropriations bill “jeopardizes the ability of the FCC to continue making major progress in growing the ever-important, job-producing, revenue-generating telecommunications sector of the economy.”
Today, the FCC is nearly self-funded. Most of the agency’s appropriations is generated by regulatory fees. Most auction revenue is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, with a small portion made available to administer the auction program.
In the same appropriations bill, Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) won approval for an amendment that shifts $4.5 million from the digital wiretap carrier fund to help pay for the Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center.
The FBI was unavailable for comment. Wireless and wireline carriers are challenging FCC digital wiretap rules, which industry claims are too broad and constitutionally suspect.
Given other cuts in “digital divide” and telecom innovation programs at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce appropriations bill-barring major changes-is a good bet to be vetoed by Clinton later this year.
The day after last Monday’s appropriations bill vote, the House telecommunications subcommittee passed legislation to restrict the FCC’s ability to review telecom mergers. In addition, owing to an amendment by Rep. Mike Oxley (R-Ohio), the bill would limit FCC lobbying authority.
FCC Chairman William Kennard, a Clinton appointee, has come under fire from Republicans for alleged illegal lobbying on broadcast and wireless bankruptcy issues.
However, the Justice Department, after reviewing congressional complaints, concluded the FCC has broken no laws.
Some Democrats, while open to streamlining an FCC merger review process that some claim is lengthy, unpredictable and inconsistent, oppose Republican attempts to circumscribe the FCC’s public interest standard oversight. The FCC judges telecom mergers against the backdrop of a broad public interest standard, sometimes conditioning approval of mergers on concessions from parties wishing to join forces.
“I do not think that notion [the public interest standard] should be easily discarded or impinged upon,” said Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.). “We ought to exercise a certain degree of caution.”
Republicans claim the FCC duplicates the antitrust analysis conducted by the Justice Department. FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth has argued the FCC lacks the legal authority to review telecom mergers and is limited to processing the transfer of licenses.
