A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the…

Full title

A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission's universal service reforms.

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IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 113th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

D BegichSponsor

9 cosponsors · 6 D, 3 R

1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO), beginning on or before December 31, 2013, and annually thereafter for the following five years, to prepare a report to aid Congress in monitoring and measuring the effects of a series of reforms by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended to promote the availability and affordability of broadband service…

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Apr 22, 2013

Requires such report to include measurements, statistics, and metrics with respect to:

the implementation progress on the reforms adopted in the FCC's Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on October 27, 2011;
any effects of such reforms on retail end-user rates for local voice telephony, interconnected VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), long distance voice, mobile wireless voice, bundles of voice telephony or VoIP, fixed broadband Internet access, and mobile broadband Internet access services;
any disparities or trends with respect to the relative average (such as per consumer) retail rates charged for each service to residential and business consumers located in rural and urban areas as well as between incumbent local exchange carriers subject to price cap regulation and those subject to rate-of-return regulation;
any effects on average fixed and mobile broadband Internet access speeds available to residential and business consumers as well as speed disparities between rural and urban areas;
any effects on the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in rural areas, including investments financed by the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, and investment disparities between rural and urban areas;
any disparities or trends with respect to the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in areas served by carriers subject to price cap regulation and areas served by carriers subject to rate-of-return regulation;
any effects on adoption of broadband Internet access services by end users; and
any effects on state universal service funds or initiatives, including carrier-of-last-resort requirements.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission's universal service reforms.

Latest action (Apr 22, 2013): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Apr 22, 2013

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.