WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats scored a legislative victory Wednesday as the Senate approved legislation that would keep in place Obama-era regulations on the internet.
On a 52-47 vote, the Senate passed a resolution that would block the repeal of net neutrality rules. The Federal Communications Commission voted in December to repeal the Obama-era protections, designed to maintain fair access to internet services.
Critics argue that repealing the net neutrality protections will allow internet service providers to offer faster access to companies willing to pay more, while throttling access for those that don’t — or can’t — pay a premium.
Republicans in Washington largely support the FCC’s policy change, arguing the net neutrality rules subjected internet service providers to burdensome regulations. However, Democrats were able to garner sufficient support to force a vote on the resolution in the Senate.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both voted with the entire Democratic caucus in support of the legislation.
Three Republicans crossed the aisle to vote in favor of it: Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and John Kennedy, R-La.
The legislation is far from a done deal. It now requires House approval, and it is unlikely to be allowed to come up for a vote under current leadership. If it does pass the House, it still could face a presidential veto.
The Obama-era regulations are set to end June 11.
Regardless of the steep climb, Democrats on Capitol Hill celebrated the vote as a victory.
Sanders, in a video statement, heralded the step as “very good news.”
“What the Senate said is we will not accept a two-tier system in which one lane goes to the wealthy and powerful on the Internet, and the other lane goes to everybody else,” he said. “Not acceptable.”
The United States Senate just voted to repeal the disastrous FCC decision to end #NetNeutrality. We must demand that the House does the right thing and stands with the Senate to overturn this decision. pic.twitter.com/DIFqtdYksr
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 16, 2018
Leahy said in a statement about the vote that the FCC’s move plunged consumers and businesses into “a fog of uncertainty.”
“This should not be a partisan issue,” Leahy said. “Republicans and Democrats alike should want to provide the small business community with the certainty that the Internet will remain an equal playing field. The simple reality is that without net neutrality rules, this certainty will not exist.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., called for a vote on the resolution in the House, where he is a sponsor of a parallel measure.
“It’s time for Speaker Ryan to do his job and let us vote in the House,” Welch said. “Our constituents have a right to know where we stand on preserving open access to the internet.”
Since the FCC vote in December, several states have taken action to try to resist the new federal rules and maintain net neutrality principles within their borders.
Vermont lawmakers passed a law requiring internet service providers that contract with the state to abide by net neutrality principles, and requesting a study of whether the state should adopt further policy changes.
Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order to a similar effect earlier this year.
Attorney General TJ Donovan has also signed onto a multi-state lawsuit challenging the FCC’s rollback of the rules.
Some Vermont-based internet service providers do not anticipate changing their operations at all once the new set of rules takes effect.
Roger Nishi, vice president of industry relations at Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, said the federal regulations will not impact their services.
“We’re just going to keep operating as we have been,” Nishi said.
Burlington Telecom vowed in December to remain committed to net neutrality practices despite the federal change.
Experts including Amanda Lotz, a professor of communication studies and screen arts and cultures at the University of Michigan, do not anticipate internet access will change noticeably come mid-June.
“I don’t think we can expect that our experience of the internet will be radically different the next day,” she said.
Lotz said it is difficult to predict how it will play out, but expects that over the course of the first year it is possible that users will start to notice changes in their access to certain web services or their bills as internet service providers set up agreements with companies like Netflix or others.
It remains to be seen how internet providers will treat government entities, nonprofit entities and others once net neutrality rules are repealed.
“They’re just enormous questions out there,” Lotz said.
The change in regulation, she said, “gives king-making power” to internet service providers. Providers will have the ability to broker deals with certain online services, perhaps throttling access to competitors.
If consumers would prefer better access to other online services, they theoretically could find another internet provider. However, she said, in many places, consumers do not have multiple providers to choose from.
“This is really a whole-scale reinvention of the notion of internet traffic,” she said.
Nicol Turner-Lee of the Brookings Institution does not think consumers’ online experience will change substantially. While the clear rules enacted under the Obama administration will no longer be in effect, there are still regulatory protections to address egregious issues, she said.
“I’m sort of in the mindset that we probably will not see too much of a difference,” Turner-Lee said.
As to whether rural areas are likely to be impacted differently by the repeal of net neutrality than urban areas, Turner-Lee said that there already is a divide in access to internet service.
Some in favor of repealing net neutrality have argued lifting the regulations will lift financial burdens on internet service providers and enable them to build out rural broadband infrastructure. However, many argue that is unlikely.
“Regardless of what happens on June 11, we still need to address rural disparity,” Turner-Lee said.
She sees the Senate vote on the resolution Wednesday as an indication that Democrats are gearing up to make net neutrality an issue in the midterms.
“It’s symbolic in the sense that it is something that Democrats can hang their hat on,” she said.
Establishing the guidance for internet openness through rulemaking is challenging because when the ruling party changes, the regulations can be changed.
She advocates for Congress to take up legislation setting policies around internet openness in law.
“My hope is that they would expend the same type of energy developing legislation so we can once and for all make the openness of the web less partisan,” she said.
