From "Inside Radio" but passed on through my local SBE Chapter.
HOUSE PUSHBACK MAY LEAD FCC TO REOPEN REGIONAL OFFICES.
(Inside Radio)
Feb 15, 2017
The money-saving decision to close and consolidate some of the Federal Communications Commission’s network of field offices may soon be reversed as Congress gives the agency a top-to-bottom review. “I would like to see a revitalization of the regional offices for the FCC so that if someone has a problem they’re not finding themselves having to call Washington DC and wait for somebody to get around to calling them back and then wait longer for somebody to get out to them,” House Communications and Technology Subcommittee chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said.
Under the reorganization plan designed by former chair Tom Wheeler, the FCC in 2015 adopted a plan to close 11 of its regional field offices. That led to the closure of offices in Anchorage, AK; Buffalo; Detroit; Houston; Kansas City; Norfolk; Philadelphia; San Diego; San Juan, PR; Seattle; and Tampa. Plans to close five other offices were scrapped after broadcasters and members of Congress complained it would stretch agency resources too thin. Blackburn hasn’t said whether she thinks all those regional offices should be reopened, but in an interview with C-Span she said it is “important” for the FCC to have a bigger footprint.
When the Obama administration shut down field offices the FCC said each location averaged $400,000 in overhead costs and support staff expenses and that by relying on so-called “tiger teams” based in suburban Washington it would be able to handle interference issues anywhere in the nation in a “timely manner,” pledging field agents will be on site “within one day.” It also left field offices open in 14 cities including New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; San Francisco; Dallas; Atlanta; Miami; Boston; Denver; Honolulu; New Orleans; and Portland, OR.
The operations of the FCC are under scrutiny as the agency undergoes its first congressional reauthorization since 1990. “When you go that period of time and you don’t have reauthorization, it is easy to get off script and get away from what is mission critical,” Blackburn explained. The review also opens the door to a larger scale reassessment into how the FCC fits into a constellation of 200 federal agencies that spend $310 billion a year “As you’re doing reauthorization, it is an opportunity to revisit the structure of those agencies,” Blackburn said. “If emphasis needs to be shifted within the agencies we’ll do that.”
There’s growing speculation that some of the FCC’s current functions will be off-loaded to other agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission. Blackburn believes the FCC has overstepped its bounds in recent years on issues such as adopting net neutrality regulations and online privacy rules—both of which she thinks would be better suited under FTC oversight. “They have the historical knowledge and the expertise,” she said.
New FCC chair Ajit Pai hasn’t publicly said what functions he’d like the Commission to relinquish. But Blackburn expects he’ll be in agreement with what Congress decides, saying he’s already met privately with several lawmakers. The FCC will also appear before both House and Senate oversight committees on March 8. In the meantime a hiring freeze remains in place at the FCC.
Republicans in Congress have put a number of sizable tasks on their list of assignments including updating laws dealing with taxes, immigration and health care. With such an agenda and focus on agency reauthorizations Blackburn doesn’t expect there will be time to update the Communication Act until 2018. “It is on the to-do list,” she assured.
It has been 21 years ago since the 1996 Telecom Act upended the radio landscape and Blackburn says fresh revisions are needed. Blackburn adds that lawmakers plan “to look at the media ownership rule,” saying they “look forward” to revising the statute
TIB