Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee today
dropped an
effort to defund a new Federal Communications Commission rule that will
make political ad data available on the Internet.
The FCC rule, which was OKed by
the commission earlier this year and is expected to go into effect sometime this
summer or fall, would require TV stations to put detailed records on
political ad buys on a new Web site. The files are currently public but are
kept on paper at stations.
The broadcast industry has vigorously fought the rule.
Earlier this month Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., chair of an appropriations subcommittee,
added an amendment to a bill that would have blocked the FCC from using any
funds to implement the transparency measure. The defunding amendment passed the
subcommittee on a party-line vote.
The maneuver to defund the transparency rule attracted media
attention and sparked outrage from outside public interest groups and
Democrats.
But in a full committee hearing
this morning, the Republicans backed down. Emerson offered a new amendment
that removed the defunding language.
Under the revised bill, which passed the committee on a
voice vote with bipartisan support, the General Accountability Office will simply
conduct a study of the effect of the political ad rule on the TV ad sales
market. The GAO will also look at the costs to broadcasters of putting
political ad files online, which media companies have argued would costly.
The amendment requires the FCC to report to the committee on
its response to the GAO study, which is due by July 2013.
Broadcasters are still fighting the FCC rule, which will not
go into effect until
the completion of a government review. The companies have sued
in federal court to block the rule and also filed an
appeal at the FCC.
Emerson, the subcommittee chair, did not immediately respond
to our request for comment.
A Democratic aide on the Appropriations committee aide told
ProPublica that the increasing attention on campaign finance after Citizens
United made it difficult for Republicans to oppose the FCC’s transparency rule.
“The backstory is that the majority thought they would slip
this language in and no one would make a ruckus over it,” the aide said. “I
don’t think the staff quite realized what they were getting into.”
