NET NEUTRALITY IN CONGRESS —
Bill to save net neutrality is 46 votes short in US House
172 Democrats signed petition to force vote, but they need 218 signatures.
Enlarge / Democrats vs. Republicans.
Congressional Democrats seeking to reinstate net neutrality rules are still 46 votes short of getting the measure through the House of Representatives.
The US Senate voted last month to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net neutrality rules, with all members of the Democratic caucus and three Republicans voting in favor of net neutrality.
A discharge petition needs 218 signatures to force a House vote on the same net neutrality bill, and 218 votes would also be enough to pass the measure. So far, the petition has signatures from 172 representatives, all Democrats. That number hasn't changed in two weeks.
"We're 46 [signatures] away from being able to force a vote on the resolution to restore the Open Internet Order," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) tweeted yesterday.
Republicans have a 235-193 majority in the House. You can see which representatives haven't signed the petition at this page maintained by net neutrality advocacy group Fight for the Future. Several groups including Fight for the Future held an "advocacy day" yesterday to urge lawmakers to support the petition.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's net neutrality repeal took effect on June 11.
California net neutrality bill
Another major legislative debate on net neutrality is happening in the California state legislature. A bill to impose strict net neutrality rules passed in the California Senate but was gutted by State Assembly lawmakers last week.
The gutted version of the bill was approved yesterday by the Assembly's Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, but this was mainly a procedural move. Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill author, "asked the Privacy Committee to move the bill forward to allow negotiations to continue regarding restoring the protections in the original bill," his office said.
"To be clear, if the bill ultimately remains in its current form, I will withdraw it, as I have no desire to pass a fake net neutrality bill," Wiener said. "But my sincere hope is that we will be able to amend it in the near future back into a strong form."
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