The main takeaway from Friday's House passage of STEM visa legislation is that the bill won't go further this year, and Democrats and Obama administration are still unwilling to discuss any expansion of skilled immigration independent of broader immigration reform. While this position is unchanged from before the election, it will likely frustrate the tech sector, which has been pushing to expand skilled worker visas for over a decade. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has shown some signs of softening on a comprehensive rewrite of immigration laws, but the two sides still appear to be far apart on the issue. That jeopardizes the likelihood that any expansion of skilled immigration will take place in the near future, and probably means that many from this year's crop of STEM graduates will mostly have to head back to their home countries to deploy their newly acquired educations.
The House voted 245-139 to pass the bill (HR 6429), which would increase the number of visa opportunities for immigrants that earn science, technology, engineering or math graduate degrees from American universities. The legislation would eliminate the visa lottery program and re-assign those 55,000 visas to foreigners that earn a Ph.D. or master's degree in a STEM field, while also making it easier for family members to move to the U.S. while they await a green card. The legislation received 25 Democratic votes, but others criticized the GOP for attempting to hand-select suitable immigrants they like while avoiding the larger issue of a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws. The White House also issued an official statement against the bill, calling it narrowly tailored. Both sides support allowing the best and brightest foreign graduate students to stay in the country after graduation, but the Democrats are not willing to budge unless something is done to address the millions of immigrants living in the U.S. without any legal standing.
Former FCC Chair Boosts Broadband Bucks: Reed Hundt, who chaired the FCC under President Bill Clinton, published a book last month arguing that new investments in broadband and clean energy projects could spur growth and solve the deficit crisis. Hundt argued the broadband funds in the 2009 stimulus package, which exceeded $7 billion, were "very well spent and encouraged private investment," suggesting similar investment may also bear fruit. Spending federal dollars to expand broadband access has been a key tech policy platform for the last few administrations, but studies show that broadband availability is reaching the point of saturation in most heavily-populated areas, while broadband adoption still lags well behind. Things move slowly in tech policy, but perhaps the focus on metrics will shift during President Obama's second term. Panel Examines Internet Radio Royalties: The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a hearing last week on the royalties paid by Internet radio companies, which are several times higher than the rates paid by satellite and other digital radio providers. The wide-ranging hearing covered a number of issues including the performance right (whether terrestrial radio stations should also compensate artists for playing their music), as well as the disparity between Web radio providers, such as Pandora, and other providers. Witnesses included Pandora CEO Joseph Kennedy, Grammy-winning record producer Jimmy Jam, and representatives of the broadcasters, venture capitalists and the Office of Management and Budget. Full transcript at the link above. Report: Cable Bill is Almost Half Sports Channels: The rising cost of cable and satellite TV can be traced largely to the rapidly escalating number and cost of sports channels such as ESPN or Fox Sports Network. According to market research from NPD Group, monthly cable and satellite bills are expected to rise nearly 40 percent over the next three years, largely due to the increasing amount cable companies pay to carry sports. In addition to the mushrooming of regional cable networks like MASN, most major pro and college sports leagues offer their own channel now, and some teams even have their own cable networks. ESPN alone costs subscribers over $5 a month according to SNL Kagain, in comparison to $1 for The Disney Channel and 40 cents for MTV. ICYMI: Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., offered an amendment to the defense authorization bill (S 3254) that would direct the federal government to prepare the 1755-1780 MHz block of spectrum for auction.