Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Gregg's Tech Track Record Has Highs & Lows

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg, who was officially tapped Tuesday to run the Commerce Department, has a reputation for being a fiscal conservative and some technology policy watchers wonder if that mindset will clash with some of President Barack Obama's spending priorities. While Gregg largely cast favorable votes on key technology issues during his tenure on Capitol Hill, he did not support U.S. competitiveness legislation that passed in the 110th Congress, which authorized major funding increases in federal R&D programs.

Throwing billions of dollars at "feel-good initiatives" would not help the country stay competitive, he argued in April 2007. The Senate passed the bill 88-8; the House voted for it 367-57; and former President George W. Bush signed the bill later that summer. Since the measure's enactment, appropriators have not kept pace with its doubling of the National Science Foundation budget and other funding boosts. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, issued a statement saying Gregg's fiscal restraint "will certainly be missed in the halls of Congress." For his part, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller called Gregg "a compassionate leader who understands that commerce is the keystone of any of our economic recovery plans."

If confirmed, it is unclear what ideas the New Hampshire senator will bring to the table with respect to the country's upcoming transition to digital television or efforts to increase broadband Internet availability in underserved areas. "He has been supportive of these issues but has never taken a leadership role," said Ralph Hellman, a lobbyist for the Information Technology Industry Council. The Commerce Department oversees the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is coordinating the digital TV shift, as well as the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and the Patent and Trademark Office.

High-tech stakeholders are hopeful that Gregg will advance Obama's aggressive innovation agenda. In the Senate, his stance on stock options legislation, Internet taxation, and overhauls to the nation's securities and class action litigation regimes pleased technology lobbyists. He also supported the Central America Free Trade Agreement as well as accords with Australia, Chile, Morocco and Singapore and backed a permanent federal research and development tax credit. Additionally, Gregg has advocated for high skilled immigration and co-sponsored legislation in the last Congress that would allocate more visas to immigrants with advanced degrees.

While Gregg has not had to vote on controversial legislation that would overhaul the U.S. patent system, which is expected again this session, he has been helpful from his position on the Appropriations Commerce-State-Justice Subcommittee. He has backed proposals to allow the PTO to keep the fees it collects rather than having them diverted to unrelated projects, sources said. Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was critical of calls for sweeping changes to the patent regime that surfaced in recent years. Obama has signaled that he supports updates to the patent system but has not offered detail.