Democrats in power could alter lobbying

THE DEMOCRATIC TAKE-OVER of Congress and the early push for ethics reform on Capitol Hill is creating a new lobbying landscape for wireless, telecom and high-tech sectors, one with indirect policy implications for telecom reform.
Lobbying is big business for the wireless, telecom and high-tech industries, accounting for nearly $180 million in services rendered in 2005, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
Lobbyists are the great catalysts of the nation’s capital. They are endlessly indefatigable, having the power to change hearts and ultimately to shape policy in ways spectacular and subtle. The wireless industry has emerged in the last decade as one of most formidable forces on Capitol Hill.
Even if Congress succeeds in
banning lobbyists from footing the bill for travel, power lunches and well-meaning gifts bestowed upon its members, it appears doubtful the clout of lobbyists will significantly diminish. They are simply too good at the game, and have shown through the years of having an uncanny knack of seamlessly adjusting to changed circumstances and plying their trade as if nothing ever happened.
“We don’t think they’ll [lobbying reforms] have an affect on our ability to advocate before Congress,” said Joe Farren, a spokesman for cellphone carrier association CTIA.
How true. The new session had hardly begun before a Senate bill to enact a three-year moratorium on new discriminatory taxes was introduced. Last week, a companion House measure surfaced. The well-known lawmakers who sponsor the bills did not dream them up all by themselves. They had help-from the wireless lobby. Likewise, fast-out-of-the gate bills to free up unassigned TV guard bands are the product of lobbying by big-name tech companies and Wi-Fi advocates. How else would lawmakers know what “white space” means?
CTIA and its mobile-phone carrier members successfully persuaded Senate lawmakers to expand federal pre-emption of states in a telecom reform bill that died in Congress last year. The cellular lobby will try to repeat that feat when, or if, Democrats get around to crafting their own telecom reform measure.
How it all will play out is unclear. Industry trade groups like CTIA and lobbying shops have bulked up on Republican lobbyists and association executives in past years in deference to Republican control of Congress and White House. But the legislative branch is no longer in GOP hands.
David Leach, a telecom lobbyist and a key adviser to Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) during the 1980s and 1990s, was in demand even before the Democrats took charge of the House and Senate. Now his stock is apt to skyrocket with Dingell’s return as chairman of the House Commerce Committee.
Leach plays down his stature as a result of the power shift in Congress. “It’s not all that different. . There is a change, but not a big change,” said Leach. He admits to getting a few more calls these days. But it is still early, with the new Congress having been in session only a few weeks.
It is argued telecom and high tech policies tend to be devoid of the kind of partisanship common to social, budget and defense issues in Congress. While there is some validity to that generalization, the fact remains that loyalty-whether manifested in party affiliation or campaign contributions-still counts for something. And that likely won’t change in the 110th Congress, particularly with respect to the one issue capable of overshadowing-if not sabotaging-any telecom reform this year.
The mobile-phone industry and the telephone-cable TV broadband duopoly oppose net neutrality, a proposed policy to prevent network operators from discriminating against content providers in terms of pricing or bandwidth speed. Net neutrality backers in Congress and industry lost their bid for legislation last year, with the controversy eating into the telecom reform debate enough to prevent it from getting to a floor vote.
It is a new year, though, and the political dynamics have changed considerably.
Key Democrats that support net neutrality are in charge of Congress now. Many top tech companies behind the net neutrality campaign bet right in the 2006 election cycle, favoring Democrats over Republicans with their millions of dollars in campaign contributions. Lawmakers know who their big money backers are, and corporate contributors are not shy about reminding them.
Yes, net neutrality is back in business.
“The Internet became a robust engine of economic development by enabling anyone with a good idea to connect to consumers and compete on a level playing field. The marketplace picked winners and losers, not some central gatekeeper. That freedom-the very core of what makes the Internet what it is today-must be preserved,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), lead sponsor of re-introduced net neutrality legislation.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine, has joined Dorgan and other Democrats on the bill.
“The tide has turned in the debate between those who seek to maintain equality and those who would benefit from the creation of a toll road on the Internet super highway,” said Snowe. “The reintroduction of this legislation and the FCC’s imposition of net neutrality conditions as part of the AT&T-BellSouth merger, are significant victories in the fight to ensure nondiscrimination on the Internet, and I look forward to continuing that fight along side Senator Dorgan in the new Congress.”
It’s just a matter of time before Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House telecom and Internet subcommittee, renews in earnest his campaign for new neutrality legislation. It’s shaping up as the main tech event in the 110th Congress.