Net neutrality supporters in the House of Representatives—mainly Democrats—have been working for months to round up enough signatures to force a vote on restoring net neutrality.
The supporters need a majority of the House to sign on to a discharge petition, which would force a vote on a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would override Ajit Pai’s FCC to restore Obama-era net neutrality rules. With more Republicans than Democrats in the House it’s not surprising that they haven’t reach their goal. What’s more surprising is that, despite polls showing that up to 89 percent of registered Democrats oppose the FCC’s reversal of net neutrality, there are still 17 House Democrats who haven’t signed the petition.
The Democrats who haven’t signed on are among those who have received the most campaign funding from the cable and telecom companies that have been leading the lobbying effort against net neutrality, a Sludge analysis of campaign contribution data shows. These 17 Democrats received, on average, 73 percent more money from PACs and individuals affiliated with Comcast, Verizon and AT&T during the 2017-18 election cycle than the Democratic petition signers. The non-signing Democrats received an average of $21,750, while the Democrats who signed received an average of $12,595.
“The Democrats who haven’t signed the net neutrality CRA all have one thing in common: They love taking money from Big Telecom,” said Josh Tabish of Fight for the Future, an advocacy group that organized a net neutrality day of action today. “Thousands of their constituents have called and emailed to ask that they sign the CRA. They know what’s expected of them. And if they want to make it right then it’s time they get moving and sign the discharge petition before the final deadline.”
The deadline for Congress to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the FCC is Dec. 10. The Senate passed their version of the resolution in May.
The Democrats not supporting the CRA resolution include half of the 18-member Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats who pride themselves on bucking party leadership and siding with Republicans.
Below are the 17 Democrats who have not signed the CRA resolution discharge petition, along with the amount of money they have received from the PACs of Comcast, Verizon (including pre-2000 Bell Atlantic) and AT&T (including pre-2005 SBC Communications) over the course of their careers.
UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Rep. Frederica Wilson (Fla.) has announced that she will sign the discharge petition and that newly inducted House Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.) has not.
Gene Green (TX-29) – $220,500
- AT&T – $120,500
- Comcast – $37,500
- Verizon – $63,000
G.K. Butterfield (NC-1) – $158,500
- AT&T – $67,500
- Comcast – $38,500
- Verizon – $52,500
Henry Cuellar (TX-28) – $131,000
- AT&T – $70,500
- Comcast – $17,500
- Verizon – $43,000
Jim Costa (CA-16) – $126,500
- AT&T – $70,000
- Comcast – $28,500
- Verizon – $28,000
Robert Brady (PA-1) – $110,000
- AT&T – $45,000
- Comcast – $47,500
- Verizon – $17,500
David Scott (GA-13) – $98,000
- AT&T – $72,500
- Comcast – $11,000
- Verizon – 14,500
Filemon Vela (TX-34) – $53,200
- AT&T – $18,500
- Comcast – $13,700
- Verizon – $21,000
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-9) – $48,000
- AT&T – $20,000
- Comcast – $24,000
- Verizon – $4,000
Brendan Boyle (PA-13) – $47,500
- AT&T – $9,000
- Comcast – $27,500
- Verizon – $11,000
Matt Cartwright (PA-8) – $43,000
- AT&T – $6,500
- Comcast – $32,500
- Verizon – $4,000
Brad Schneider (IL-10) – $39,000
- AT&T – $17,500
- Comcast – $14,500
- Verizon – $7,000
Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) – $38,750
- AT&T – $12,000
- Comcast – $12,500
- Verizon – $14,250
Pete Visclosky (IN-1) – $37,500
- AT&T – $35,500
- Comcast – $0
- Verizon – $2,000
Dwight Evans (PA-2) – $28,750
- AT&T – $7,000
- Comcast – $15,000
- Verizon – $6,750
Tom O’Halleran (AZ-1) – $17,500
- AT&T – $7,000
- Comcast – $9,500
- Verizon – $1,000
Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) – $16,500
- AT&T – $10,000
- Comcast – $2,500
- Verizon – $4,000
Mary Gary Scanlon (PA-7) – $14,500
- AT&T – $2,000
- Comcast – $10,000
- Verizon- $2,500
Disclosure: This reporter previously worked as a contractor with Fight for the Future.
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