A Month Is Not Long

Here we are, already in October. It seems like only yesterday that I stepped into the office of TIA President (it was in January). The time has flown since we got the Telecom Act signed into law (that was in 1996).  I won't even start on when I first began as an assistant in the office of Senator McCain. One of the common threads in this town, as in our industry, is that time flies.  Deadlines that once seemed so far off come and go before you know it.  Hearings and markups -- and long-expected auctions -- barrel past us with ferocious speed.

Which is to say: a month is not a long time.

And a month is exactly how much time we have until the current moratorium on Internet access taxes expires on November 1. While three separate bipartisan bills, each of which would reinstall the tax ban, languish in Congress, none seems near a floor vote -- let alone delivery to President Bush's desk to be signed. Though there is general consensus among the key legislators and their constituents that this fall is hardly the time to experiment with new Internet access taxes and that they would hit hardest the very consumers Congress wants to help get better, faster broadband, none of the bills has yet made it through the process.

As The Wall Street Journal put it recently, "a permanent ban should be a political lay-up."  It's easy: barring a few outliers, there is consensus at the federal level that taxing Internet access is a bad idea.  Further, everyone is aware of the time constraints at play.  As the Journal continued, "the clock is winding down and Congress needs to take a shot."

At TIA we're working to remind Congress that the ball is firmly in its hands.  A month is not a long time to act on legislation with such a clear deadline looming overhead.  Between the committee process, and the inevitable conference between houses, and then the president's actual signing, there's a lot to be done.  And this month will come and go before we know it.  I urge all TIA members and nonmembers alike who don't want to see a window open on such unwelcome taxes to speak up, either directly to Congress or through our policy team. 

This Congress has taken several very welcome steps so far in 2007, but a month is not a long time for them to take one of the most important of all.

Thank you,
Grant Seiffert
President,
TIA