On February 24,
2016, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly published a blog entitled “Stop
Unfairly Censoring Commissioners.” Commissioner O’Rielly, who has published
many blogs on process reform at the FCC, discusses the need for more transparency within the FCC rulemaking
process. He argues that draft items should be released publicly, but at the
very least, he says Commissioners and their staffs should be able to
discuss items with the public, whether through blogs, tweets, fact sheets, or
interviews. Commissioner O’Rielly stresses the importance of transparency and public
feedback:
It is common sense that, if the Commission wants the
strongest and most defensible items, it needs to talk to the outside world,
including interested and affected parties. This simple principle is
embodied in the Administrative Procedure Act notice and comment rulemaking
process. Similarly, Commissioners also need the opportunity to discuss
ideas, problems, and alternative ways to do things than the prescribed proposal
contained in any draft item. As it stands now, it is immensely
frustrating to sit in ex parte meetings and be unable to test out other
concepts and options or correct any misunderstandings of those in attendance.
But if we were to have such conversations today, my fellow Commissioners
and I would risk potentially violating the Commission’s disclosure rule by
revealing nonpublic information about items. The end result is weaker
Commission items.
Commissioner O’Rielly
was the keynote speaker at the Free State Foundation’s July 2015 lunch seminar
on FCC process reform, which can be viewed here. Free State Foundation
President Randolph May has testified three times in front of the House Subcommittee on Communications and
Technology regarding the need for process reform at the FCC (May
2015, July
2013, and June
2011). Mr. May also released two blogs in the summer of 2015 on this important topic, “Why
Process Matters” and “Why
Process Matters – Part II.”
Commissioner O’Rielly
has been a strong leader on process reform at the FCC and we hope he continues
his fight for more transparency and accountability at the Commission.
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