Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is leading a letter to the FCC pushing for Title II Communications Act reclassification of broadband, a spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., confirmed to us Monday, saying Sanders signed the letter. Markey will join Sanders plus Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a news conference at the Capitol Tuesday at 10 a.m. “on net neutrality and the need to protect the openness of the Internet for future generations,” said a Markey media advisory Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1jIVR0A). A Markey spokeswoman would not confirm that Markey is leading a letter or say whether the news conference is pegged to it. Also present will be Free Press President Craig Aaron, Etsy Policy Director Althea Erickson and Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman. Schumer has signed the letter, he wrote Friday in a Facebook update expressing his backing for Title II reclassification (CD July 14 p14). Franken signed the letter, a Senate Democratic aide confirmed to us. Tuesday is the initial comment deadline for the FCC net neutrality rulemaking. (See separate report above in this issue.) Some net neutrality advocates have argued that reclassification, which much of industry and many Republicans oppose, would allow stronger net neutrality rules.

USTelecom and CTIA hailed the House’s Friday passage of HR-4718, that would make permanent bonus depreciation. The bonus depreciation provisions had expired in December. “Extending 50% expensing will provide certainty, predictability, and an immediate incentive for businesses to make and plan for additional capital investments well into the future,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a statement. “This Administration’s Treasury Department, as well as prior Administrations, have consistently found that bonus depreciation reduces the cost of capital, encourages businesses to expand, and thereby increases investment, jobs, and wages.” CTIA Vice President-Government Affairs Jot Carpenter hailed the bill as “forward-looking tax policy that promotes the investment and innovation necessary for the United States to maintain its world leadership in the deployment of wireless broadband.” The White House said last week it opposes the bill and that senior officials would recommend a presidential veto (CD July 11 p17).

The House Judiciary IP Subcommittee plans a hearing on “Moral Rights, Termination Rights, Resale Royalty, and Copyright Term” Tuesday at 1 p.m. in 2141 Rayburn, said a committee release (http://1.usa.gov/1zulM0E) Friday.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., backs reclassifying broadband as a Title II telecom service, he said Friday. Schumer wrote a Facebook post, signed with his initials, making the case for reclassifying for the sake of the Internet. “Like a highway, the internet must remain free and open for all; not determined by the highest bidders,” Schumer said (http://on.fb.me/1oLYhbW). “Title II reclassification is the best way to for us to preserve the internet as an unfettered tool for communication and the sharing of ideas ... Protecting net neutrality is one of the most important issues before Congress and FCC Chairman Wheeler should listen to those of us who have voiced our strong support of this approach.” Industry has opposed reclassifying, arguing it would create untenable burdens. Staffers from the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Free Press and Public Knowledge thanked Schumer in the Facebook comments.

AT&T, Comcast, Dish and Public Knowledge are slated to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on the future of video Wednesday, industry officials told us. Commerce announced the hearing, which will involve online video issues and media consolidation, last week but didn’t reveal witnesses. Industry officials say witnesses will include Dish Deputy General Counsel Jeff Blum; Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen; University of Nebraska College of Law professor Gus Hurwitz, who focuses on telecom and antitrust issues; Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman; and AT&T Chief Strategy Officer John Stankey. Writers Guild of America also will have a witness, the officials said. A committee spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny any witnesses. Commerce also invited Netflix, which “declined due to a schedule conflict that pre-dated the hearing,” a Netflix spokeswoman told us Friday. Comcast and AT&T are both in the midst of acquisitions -- of Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, respectively -- and Public Knowledge has advocated against both deals. Dish last week urged regulators to block the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal and raised concerns about the AT&T/DirecTV deal (CD July 10 p10). The hearing will be at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell.

CTIA backs HR-4718, which would make bonus depreciation permanent and will soon be under consideration on the House floor, CEO Meredith Baker wrote in a letter Wednesday to House leadership (http://bit.ly/1rbLfHt). The bonus depreciation provision of the American Taxpayer Relief Act expired in December, and telecom and media industry groups have backed its reinstatement. Baker cited the “capital intensive” nature of the wireless industry and said passing the bill would help expansion of wireless broadband networks and increase innovation. The White House strongly opposes this bill, the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday. “This provision was enacted in 2009 to provide short-term stimulus to the economy, and it was never intended to be a permanent corporate giveaway,” it said. It said HR-4718 “includes no offsets and would add $287 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, wiping out more than one third of the deficit reduction achieved by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2013.”

"Carefully scrutinize” AT&T’s proposed acquisition of DirecTV to ensure the deal is in consumers’ best interests, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told the FCC and Justice Department in a letter Wednesday (http://1.usa.gov/1juEz7q). He identified several key factors he thought the regulators should consider. “To protect consumer choice, I believe that AT&T must thoroughly articulate its commitment to standalone broadband pricing,” Franken said, also citing concerns about net neutrality and mobile broadband.

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (S-517) to the floor, approving it by voice vote Thursday. Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had introduced a bipartisan compromise version of the cellphone unlocking legislation last month, mirroring a bill the House passed earlier this year. Ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, praised the legislation and said all members and stakeholders seem “on board” with the manager’s amendment. Leahy has been working with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to make sure Congress can approve cellphone unlocking legislation this year, his office said. The vote is “certainly a step in the right direction and we can only hope the Librarian of Congress gets the message,” said Competitive Carriers Association CEO Steve Berry. CTIA Vice President-Government Affairs Jot Carpenter thanked Leahy and said CTIA appreciates Judiciary’s “effort to strike an appropriate balance by authorizing unlocking without imposing obligations on carriers.”

CTIA and the Telecommunications Industry Association praised Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., for introducing the Enhance Labeling, Accessing, and Branding of Electronic Licenses (E-LABEL) Act of 2014. The FCC “requirement for manufacturers to either etch or print mandatory regulatory markings on the exterior of devices unnecessarily increases costs and limits industrial and aesthetic design options, while ineffectively conveying important information to consumers about their devices,” TIA President Grant Seiffert said in a Thursday letter (http://bit.ly/1mONmSb). “Through the E-LABEL Act, device manufacturers will have the ability to use eLabels, easing technical and logistical burdens on manufacturers while increasing countless American consumers’ ability to access easily readable and prominently displayed information about the devices they use every day.” CTIA Vice President-Government Relations Jot Carpenter said it’s time to bring these “rules into the 21st century by giving manufacturers the option of providing labeling information digitally.” FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O'Rielly also praised the bill. “Modernizing the display of FCC device certification has real benefits,” they said in a joint statement. “For starters, more devices and new technologies can be designed with innovation in mind, rather than regulatory labeling requirements.” A Fischer spokeswoman confirmed the legislation’s introduction. The bill text is on Fischer’s website (http://1.usa.gov/1r0oKYa) and a news release was expected to be released Thursday after our deadline, the spokeswoman said. CEA views the legislation as “a commonsense approach for the digital age,” said Veronica O'Connell, vice president-government and political affairs, in a statement. “E-labeling would be cost-effective, in keeping with the consumer electronics industry’s important ongoing environmental sustainability efforts, and a beneficial and innovative use of today’s technology,” she said. It would be a welcome alternative to the FCC’s existing physical labeling requirements, which “are burdensome, costly and present logistical challenges for consumer electronics manufacturers,” she said.

Congressional Republicans began raising concerns about the FCC’s Friday E-rate vote, focusing primarily on the financing of any E-rate overhaul. “Since Chairman [Tom] Wheeler first announced his $5 billion Wi-Fi stimulus proposal, I have been concerned that he cannot realistically expect to pay for it without forcing Americans to pay more for communications services or diverting E-Rate funds that support necessary connectivity in our nation’s schools, particularly in rural areas,” said Senate Commerce Committee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., in a statement Wednesday night. He also suggested that if Wheeler lacks bipartisan backing on the commission, Wheeler should postpone the vote. “Moving forward in a partisan manner, relying on untested budget assumptions, and shifting E-Rate’s priority from connectivity to Wi-Fi will only erode the Chairman’s and FCC’s stature, and potentially jeopardize support for E-Rate,” Thune said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., sent a joint letter (http://1.usa.gov/U5xsq1) to Wheeler Thursday questioning the math that Wheeler has said will be used to pay for the E-rate expansion. Upton and Walden support the described approach but worry about “discrepancies” and the plan’s sustainability as well as “press reports that you have promised to increase the E-rate budget in the ‘near term,'” they said. There are also procedural “red flags” on bipartisan deliberation, they added. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., sent Wheeler a letter Wednesday raising her concerns about broader USF equity among the states. Real E-rate overhaul “means simplifying the process by reducing the paperwork needed to apply for funding” and “distributing aid to schools on a more equitable per-student basis (rather than the complex discount formula that the program now uses),” Ayotte said. “Moreover, this means giving schools the flexibility to spend E-Rate funds on technologies that directly benefit students, instead of a complicated system of technology priorities dictated by Washington.” Do not increase the size of the E-rate budget without these changes, she cautioned.