SR-16, As Adopted by Senate, February 25, 2015

 

 

            Senator Kowall offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 16.

            A resolution to memorialize the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to refrain from regulating broadband Internet services as common carrier services under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.

            Whereas, Due in large part to the unregulated efforts of private enterprise over nearly the past 30 years, the development of the Internet has dramatically transformed the way Michigan citizens work, live, and learn. The deployment of efficient, fast, and reliable broadband networks across Michigan has created thousands of jobs and economic benefits for local economies. The Internet has also revolutionized and enhanced our ability to communicate near and far; and

Whereas, In order to encourage the growth and development of the Internet, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has historically followed a policy to refrain from regulating broadband Internet services as common carrier services under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. As a result, the United States has been at the forefront of technological, business, and social innovation on the Internet; and

            Whereas, The FCC will meet on February 26, 2015, and vote on rules that would reclassify Internet service as a telecommunications, not information, service. This change and associated rules would allow the FCC to regulate Internet service more stringently, essentially like that of a public utility; and

            Whereas, It is the judgment of this legislative body that using monopoly-era provisions of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 to regulate the Internet will slow investment in Michigan's broadband Internet infrastructure and jeopardize future job growth; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we memorialize the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to refrain from regulating broadband Internet services as common carrier services under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the members of the Michigan congressional delegation, and the commissioners of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.