The Protecting Consumers through Proper Forbearance Procedures Act, introduced by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), would reform the FCC’s forbearance process. Free Press strongly supports this bill.

Under the current forbearance regime, a request by a company to be released from regulation is granted automatically if the FCC does not deny it within a year of submission. Under this bill, the FCC would be required to accept or reject the petition within a year, with the option of delaying the decision for one 90-day period.