Senate Commerce Committee Slates Hearing on Burdensome Regs

Senate Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 1 on "Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens."

Thune's office said the hearing will examine "the negative impacts of unnecessarily burdensome regulations on diverse sectors of our nation’s economy" as well as "explore where a smarter regulatory approach would create jobs and spur economic growth."

There are no communications industry witnesses, but Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro is scheduled to testify.

President Trump has repeatedly pledged to cut what he says are job-killing regs and has talked with various CEOs, including AT&T's Randall Stephenson, about the impact of regulation on investment and jobs.

The other witnesses are Jack Gerard, American Petroleum Institute; Rosario Palmieri, National Association of Manufacturers; Adam White, Hoover Institution; and Professor Lisa Heinzerling, Georgetown Law Center.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.