FCC Consolidated Reporting Act, H.R. 3310 has taken another step on its way from being a bill to becoming a law. By unanimous consent, it has been approved by the US House of Representatives.
The other FCC reform bill was intended by Republicans as a transparency enhancer but was seen by Democrats as a tool to prevent the FCC from doing its job. Due to this failure of the two parties to see eye-to-eye, the bill passed the Committee and the full House largely on party lines and has languished in the Senate.
This bill, however, merely reduces the Commissions burden when it comes to reporting to Congress and was not controversial.
The basic thrust of this bill is round up a number of reports the FCC submits to the Committee every even-numbered year on the state of various industries under its purview, and instead has the Commission submit one report that covers them all.
FCC Commissioner Ajit weighed in on the event, saying, “I commend the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2012. This legislation would modernize the Commission’s reporting obligations to reflect the convergence that has taken place in the communications marketplace and at the same time ensure that policymakers receive information critical to making data-driven decisions. The Commission must meet its legal mandate to produce reports for Congress in a timely manner, and this bill would assist us in that task.
