State Members of Joint Board Dimming Sunshine on FCC Commissioners

摘要

The FCC commissioners should be allowed to converse with each other behind closed doors, nsaid state members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. Sunshine rules nprohibit more than two commissioners from talking with each other except at an open nmeeting. In a letter to chairmen and ranking members of the House Commerce Committee nand Communications Subcommittee, the state members said a bill by Rep. Bart Stupak, nD-Mich., would correct “systemic problems with the so-called ‘Sunshine laws’ that induce nsignificant inefficiencies and delay in FCC administrative process.” The state members urged na clarification in the bill that it also cover talks and informal meetings of federal-state joint nboards and conferences. “Currently, FCC Commissioners must rotate their participation nduring face-to-face meetings and conference calls of such Joint Boards, causing continuous ninefficient repetition of prior conversations and positions.”