press releases
For Immediate Release: November 17, 2015
Contact: Regina L. Davis, 202-898-9382, rdavis@naruc.org
WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners issued the following statements after the House of Representatives passed the Federal Communications Commission Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 2583).
“The FCC has so many balls in the air that it can be difficult for anyone other than the most sophisticated, connected players to follow all the agency actions that are conceivably relevant to a given business or concern. In light of that, this legislation is a step in the right direction toward good government, transparency, and thoughtful regulation in the public interest. It is especially heartening to know that these core principles can still muster bipartisan support.”
—NARUC President Travis Kavulla of Montana
“Passing this bill is an excellent, much-needed step toward greater FCC transparency. This bipartisan legislation addresses several provision that are important to all stakeholders, such as providing Commissioners with adequate time before voting to review a proposal, setting a minimum comment period for comments and reply comments and includes a sunshine provision that allows more than two FCC commissioners to meet and would extend this to the deliberations of the federal-state joint boards and conferences. Further, the creation of a searchable online consumer complaint database will assist consumers as they review potential service providers. We look forward to working with the Senate as they address this issue.”
—NARUC Committee on Telecommunications Chair Chris Nelson of South Dakota
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NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.
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