Federal Communications Commission Collaboration Act of 2015
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow a bipartisan majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), notwithstanding a specified open meeting provision, to hold a meeting that is closed to the public to discuss official business if: (1) no agency action is taken, (2) each person present is an FCC Commissioner or employee or a member or person on the staff of a joint board or conference to which the FCC has referred a matter, and (3) an attorney from the FCC's Office of General Counsel is present.
Defines "bipartisan majority" as a group of at least three Commissioners that includes: (1) for each political party of which any Commissioner is a member, at least one Commissioner who is a member of such political party; and (2) if any Commissioner has no political party affiliation, at least one unaffiliated Commissioner.
Requires public disclosure of the meeting, attendees, and matters discussed.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 760 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 760
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to
hold nonpublic collaborative discussions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 17, 2015
Mr. Heller (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a bipartisan
majority of Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission to
hold nonpublic collaborative discussions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Communications Commission
Collaboration Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission
(in this section referred to as the ``Commission''), past and
present, have stated that, while they support the intent of
section 552b of title 5, United States Code, the implementation
of that section has hindered the ability of the Commission to
have a substantive exchange of ideas and hold collective
deliberations on issues pending before the Commission.
(2) The principal purpose of Congress in creating a
multimember agency is to obtain the benefits of collegial
decisionmaking by the members of the agency, who bring to the
decisionmaking process different philosophical perspectives,
experiences, and areas of expertise.
(3) Commissioners have relied primarily on an inefficient
combination of written messages, communications among staff,
and a series of meetings restricted to 2 Commissioners at each
such meeting to discuss complex telecommunications matters
pending before the Commission.
(4) Extensive use of such methods of communication has
harmed collegiality and cooperation at the Commission.
(5) Numerous regulatory matters have been pending before
the Commission for years, and continued inaction on these
issues has the potential to hinder innovation and private
investment in the domestic communications industry.
(6) The Commission must be able to work more
collaboratively and efficiently than in the past to meet the
current challenge of expanding broadband Internet access to the
extent necessary to serve the business, educational, health,
and cultural needs of all people in the United States.
SEC. 3. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS OF THE FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
Section 4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(p) Nonpublic Collaborative Discussions.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `agency action' has the meaning
given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States
Code; and
``(B) the term `bipartisan majority' means, when
used with respect to a group of Commissioners, that the
group--
``(i) is a group of 3 or more
Commissioners; and
``(ii) includes--
``(I) for each political party of
which any Commissioner is a member, not
less than 1 Commissioner who is a
member of the political party; and
``(II) if any Commissioner has no
political party affiliation, not less
than 1 unaffiliated Commissioner.
``(2) Authority to hold meetings.--Notwithstanding section
552b of title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan majority of
Commissioners may hold a meeting that is closed to the public
to discuss official business if--
``(A) a vote or any other agency action is not
taken at the meeting;
``(B) each person present at the meeting is a
Commissioner, an employee of the Commission, a member
of a joint board or conference established under
section 410, or a person on the staff of such a joint
board or conference or of a member of such a joint
board or conference; and
``(C) an attorney from the Office of General
Counsel of the Commission is present at the meeting.
``(3) Disclosure of nonpublic collaborative discussions.--
Not later than 2 business days after the conclusion of a
meeting held under paragraph (2), the Commission shall publish
a disclosure of the meeting, including--
``(A) a list of the persons who attended the
meeting; and
``(B) a summary of the matters discussed at the
meeting, except for any matters that the Commission
determines may be withheld under section 552b(c) of
title 5, United States Code.
``(4) Preservation of open meetings requirements for agency
action.--Nothing in this subsection shall limit the
applicability of section 552b of title 5, United States Code,
with respect to a meeting of Commissioners other than that
described in paragraph (2).''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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