To: Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Ranking Member Frank Pallone, and Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee;
From: National Taxpayers Union
Date: March 17, 2023
Subject: NTU priorities
- Introduction and Key Taxpayer Considerations
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we write to inform you of a number of NTU’s top energy and commerce priorities in the 118th Congress for your consideration. As your committee is one of the most crucial for spurring economic recovery, we hope that you will leave bad policy proposals from the 117th behind and instead consider advancing pro-taxpayer policies.
Oversight
Federal Trade Commission
Numerous issues with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversight have been coming to a head lately, culminating with Commissioner Christine Wilson announcing her resignation recently. Commissioner Lina Khan pared back the effective guardrails on Section 5 rulemaking, and now has even started working on a data privacy rule and a broad ban on noncompetition agreements. Further, the FTC has been chilling economic activity with overzealous enforcement and weak lawsuits that have been wasting taxpayer funds. The FTC’s wasteful enforcement strategy and overstepping on its statutory and Congressionally-mandated limits need to be examined thoroughly through the proper oversight channels and potentially restricted further through legislative action.
Broadband Implementation
NTU believes that prudent implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and reauthorizing spectrum authority for the Federal Communications Commission should be top priorities. In particular, oversight on federal spending through Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programs should be carefully monitored and Congressional intervention may be needed.
The National Telecommunications and Information Association is charged with administering BEAD funding but NTU has serious concerns with their Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), as noted below.
- Extraneous Grant Criteria
Some of the most egregious grant criteria include the favoring of unionized workforces and project labor agreements for subgrantees. Many of the most remote areas for which this legislation seeks advanced broadband deployment will not have sufficient local or unionized workforces to implement these types of requirements. Negotiating with new unions could also significantly add to delays in implementation as well.
Congress should amend the law to state that no federal agency may specially weight criteria that is not part of the agency’s statutory duties when developing, publishing, or releasing NOFOs while awarding federal funds unless explicitly authorized by law and through the comprehensive listing of specific factors in said law.
Related to this idea, there should be a Congressionally mandated percentage limit on the amount of funding that can go to non-deployment expenditures for grantees and subgrantees. Without such a cap, there could be significant diversions of funds for purposes that will not bring quality broadband to more unserved and underserved communities.
- FOIA Exemption in BEAD Program
Furthermore, NTU believes that government transparency keeps the executive branch accountable to Congress and the American people. The IIJA statute as written exempts BEAD from Freedom of Information Act requests. Without this important ability to understand the reasoning or decision making process of bureaucrats and appointees, the public suffers a grave disservice in positive governance. Of crucial importance will be the ability to access information on how these NOFOs are being produced and whether they are written in consultation with groups that may be exercising undue or inappropriate influence over the criteria for awarding federal taxpayer funds.
Legislation
Spectrum Reauthorization
The United States is lagging in the 5G race, partially due to a substantial amount of spectrum that is reserved for the federal government, a policy hurdle not present for our rivals. Even an independent 2019 Defense Innovation Board paper stated, “DoD must bear in mind that the status quo of spectrum allocation is unsustainable.” The government, and the Pentagon in particular, must recognize the necessity for additional spectrum to be released for commercial use, as a 5G world led by our rivals threatens our national security.
Lawmakers should recognize that 5G will enable a multitude of technological efficiencies that were once only science fiction. It could help enable smart cities, build a more energy efficient power grid, and help create safer factories. NTU supports the enactment of the bipartisan and bicameral Spectrum Innovation Act in order to reauthorize the FCC’s spectrum auction authority (H.R. 7624, S. 4117). Unleashing government-held spectrum for private sector use will help American companies compete and win on the global technology market.
Reducing Regulatory Barriers to New Cures for Diseases
NTU believes that America’s world-leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries set the standard for balancing innovation and broad availability of generics. However, during the pandemic, we saw prudent exceptions made to the typically slow regulatory process to roll out vaccines and create accessible treatments, such as the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program and Operation Warp Speed. As variants of current and future diseases evolve and emerge, new solutions must be found for treatment. Seeking federal approval for new therapies often entails onerous regulatory scrutiny that does not reflect or support the creative tempo needed to keep ahead of diseases’ progressions. This creates a huge barrier for new preventive or treatment products to come to market. NTU supports legislative efforts to carefully codify some of the important lessons from the recent pandemic and in streamlining the approval process for new cures and treatments for infectious diseases.
Expand HSAs and Telehealth
Health Savings Account (HSA) expansion is a key element for helping to improve health care in America. NTU supports innovation that would create a new safe harbor, allowing patients in a high-deductible plan who have a $0 deductible for primary care services to also open or continue contributing to an HSA. Given primary care use has the potential to lower health care costs in the long run and lead to better health outcomes for patients, this type of HSA expansion has considerable merit.
The Primary and Virtual Care Affordability Act would expand HSA eligibility in a way that aligns with how health care is being delivered in the 21st century. NTU supported H.R. 5541 in the last Congress, and encourages Members to introduce similar legislation in the current Congress. NTU would also support legislation increasing contribution limits, aggressive indexing for limits, delinking high-deductible health plans from HSAs, allowing Medicare beneficiaries to contribute to HSAs, and expanding qualifying medical expenses.
Narrow Medicare Price-Fixing Requirements from IRA
The Inflation Reduction Act has several measures which distort markets for key pharmaceutical innovations in our country. NTU has written significantly on this in the past, and there are several opportunities to make a meaningful difference in restoring more freedom to pharmaceutical innovators. NTU would support measures to delay implementation, exempt drug categories, reduce the number of drugs subjected, increase number of years of exclusivity for covered drugs, increase the price cap, reduce the excise tax, expand the small business carveout, and expand the biosimilar carveout.
Energy
House Republicans introduced a slate of bills during the last Congress along with many policy provisions that would improve America’s energy independence and protect against increasing costs of energy for taxpayers. As the country continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and global markets continue to be disrupted by international affairs, NTU hopes to work closely with committee members on enacting real change in the energy policy space including permitting reform, expanding access to resources and incentivising new and innovative energy solutions. Congress should consider policies that can mitigate increased energy prices over the long term with minimal impact to taxpayers. Some policies should include: identifying and developing energy resources on federal lands, approving responsible exploration and production by the private sector, and supporting sustainable and expedited permitting. NTU supports an “all of the above” strategy to increase our domestic energy supply, which includes traditional energy sources such as natural gas and nuclear, as well as renewables including offshore wind and solar. However, the goal of a broad and diverse energy portfolio should not involve the heavy hand of government, but rather a deployment strategy that streamlines new development and removes unneeded red tape. Accordingly, NTU recommends looking at legislation to reduce barriers that block the development of and access to new supply and steering away from other stale policies such as the windfall profits tax that has already failed in the marketplace of ideas. Legislation for your consideration includes the American Critical Minerals Independence Act (H.R. 2637) which would invest in recycling technology, innovation, processing while streamlining the permitting process and directing the analysis of federal lands for potential resources. The House recently passed the Strategic Production Response Act (H.R. 21) which would safeguard the emergency supply of energy ensuring it would only be used as intended, requiring the Secretary of Energy to provide a plan to replace any drawdowns with an increase of domestic leasing for oil and gas drilling on federal lands.
- Contact Information
We look forward to working with each of you in the new Congress and welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your staff on these priorities as the 118th Congress gets underway. Should you have any questions about the recommendations in this memo, please do not hesitate to reach out to Alex Milliken at Amilliken@ntu.org, or Nicholas Johns at NJohns@ntu.org.