Dec

17

Senators Warner & Snowe Drop Bill to Support Hiring of Technologists at the FCC.

sascha's picture

An interesting proposal from Senators Warner & Snowe. Reading between the lines, this is to solve the problem that technical expertise is too often sorely lacking across a number of different areas within the FCC (which has prioritized legal expertise over technological):

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Julia Wanzco (Snowe)
    December 8, 2009 202.224.1304
    Kevin Hall (Warner)
    202.224.2425

    Snowe, Warner Announce Bill to
    Boost Technical Resources for FCC

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) today announced bipartisan legislation to bolster access to technical resources for the Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Snowe-Warner initiative will update current law to allow each Commissioner to hire an additional staff member—an electrical engineer or computer scientist—to provide in-depth technical consultation.

    “Given the rapid advancement of technologies and innovation within the telecommunications industry, it is essential that Commissioners have in-house technical expertise to make well informed regulatory decisions,” said Senator Snowe, a senior member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over the legislation. “This legislation is a common-sense initiative that will guarantee each Commissioner has a technical expert on staff to provide detailed analysis on some of the most cutting-edge issues affecting the communications industry today.”

    “Easing restrictions on the number of experts a commissioner can hire will provide the FCC with more tools and information it needs to decisions,” said Senator Warner. “This will give commissioners access to the best information possible, from all relevant disciplines, and in a timely manner – which is critical in making well-informed decisions.”

    Under current law, each Commissioner is permitted to appoint only three professional assistants and a secretary. Historically, these professional assistants have been legal advisors covering the wireline, wireless, and cable/media sectors. The Snowe-Warner bill complements this structure by ensuring Commissioners have access to expertise involving the technical aspect of the issues, which is fundamental to developing sound regulatory policy related to the nation’s communications industry.

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  1. Mike Marcus (not verified) on Sat, 2009-12-26 17:15

    A well intentioned proposal for a real problem:  The FCC's long term inability to deal well with technical issues.

    Unfortunately, it is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The problem isn't that FCC commissioners don't have a techie on their personal staffs.  The problem is that most aren't interested in the technical jurisdiction of the FCC and yet are afraid to delegate it to the staff. Indeed, I have real questions about whether the FCC, as presently structured, has the capacity to make all the technical decisions that areneed just to keep its thousands of pages of rules minimally up to date with technological change, let alone address major reforms in spectrum policy and Internet policy.

    I am afreaid that the band-aid solution proposed by Warner and Snowe might distract attention from the underlying problem while failing to impact it at all.

    In any case, the bills language limiting the new assistants to be an "electrical engineer or computer scientist ...(that) holds an undergraduate or graduate degree from an institution of higher education in their respective field of expertise." will really work out as intended.  I know many ourstanding people who would not qualify and others who would qualify but are not what the drafters wanted at all.

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