Broadband Access

With 2024 congressional races in full swing, Common Cause is again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. For the fifth cycle in a row, Members of the House and Senate have received letters from Common Cause asking them to co-sponsor and support up to ten democracy reform bills. The letters inform Members that their voting and co-sponsorship record will be published in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard,” which will be distributed to the organization’s 1.5 million members, as well as to state and national media, during the lead-up to Election Day.

Virginia Kase Solomón will be the next president and CEO of Common Cause. Currently CEO of the League of Women Voters, she will start her new role in February and will be the first Hispanic person to lead the democratic watchdog. She succeeds Karen Hobert Flynn, who died this spring after three decades with the organization.

Top Grassroots Lobbyists Aaron Scherb, Common Cause

The battle for network neutrality (aka the open internet) is back. The chair of the Federal Communications Commission, with a new majority finally in place after almost three years of a deadlocked 2-2 commission caused by a dawdling Senate, has started the ball rolling toward a vote, which hopefully will happen early in the new year. It’s something that should have been instituted years ago.

Today, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the agency will begin proceedings to restore Net Neutrality. In a speech at the National Press Club, Chair Rosenworcel said she will formally introduce a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” at the agency’s Open Meeting on October 19, 2023. The rulemaking will restore the FCC’s authority under Title II of the Communications Act to oversee broadband providers and enforce the open-internet protections. The Open Internet Order was repealed during the Trump Administration in the face of widespread public opposition – including comments filed during the proceedings opposing the controversial reversal by the agency.

Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission in a bipartisan 55-43 vote. Commissioner Gomez fills a slot at the agency which has been vacant since President Biden took office in January of 2021. The vacancy had often left the commission deadlocked 2-2 on critical matters, and her confirmation will allow the agency to move forward.