The good news and bad news for the country is that the House is scheduled to work about 65 days between now and September 30. It's bad news because this is Congress and they're kind of supposed to be doing their job. It's good news because when they are working, they're doing horrible stuff. Take, for example, the anti-net neutrality legislation they passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee before they left for their current three-week recess.
Legislation that would ban rate regulation of Internet service providers could prevent the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing net neutrality rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, according to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. […]
Wheeler wouldn't object to legislation that merely prevents traditional rate regulation from being imposed on ISPs, he wrote. But this bill "would introduce significant uncertainty into the Commission's ability to enforce the three bright line rules that bar blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization rules, as well as our general conduct rule that would be applied to issues such as data caps and zero rating," Wheeler wrote. "It would also cast doubt on the ability of the Commission to ensure that broadband providers receiving universal service subsidies do not overcharge their consumers. Finally, it would hamstring aspects of the Commission's merger review process."
Consumer advocates and Democratic lawmakers had previously warned that the bill's vague wording could strip the FCC of powers to prevent egregious billing practices. But Wheeler's arguments go further, contending that the bill could hinder enforcement of even the most basic net neutrality rules.
One would guess that the FCC Chairman would know best what would happen. In the open internet rule the FCC created to protect net neutrality it specifically ruled out rate setting, staying away from regulating the monthly charges broadband companies set for customers. But it retained authority to ban "unreasonable discrimination" in charges and practices by internet service providers. Not having that authority, Wheeler is arguing, makes enforcing net neutrality basically impossible.
There's basically no chance of this legislation making it through the House, the Senate, and to President Obama as a stand-alone bill. But that doesn't mean the effort is going to die—given how little the House has accomplished so far this year, you can assume this one getting out of committee makes it a priority. Expect to see an effort to get it into the continuing resolution, a must-pass bill to keep government funded this fall. That’s where the fight will get real again.