NEWS

Ideological Divide on Net Neutrality Ruling

Chad Outler | April 11, 2011

April 11, 2011 - House Republicans and Democrats split along usual partisan lines in voting to pass HJ Res 37 on April 8, 2011, a measure that disapproves a recent FCC ruling on net neutrality. Only eight members, six Democrats and two Republicans broke from party ranks. The measure faces an uphill battle in the Senate and the White House according to Amy Schatz of the Wall Street Journal.

Interest groups that supported this measure gave 8.4 times as much to House members that voted YES as to House members that voted NO.

Members who voted in favor of the measure received on average $27,296 in contributions connected to interest groups that spoke out in favor of passage, while lawmakers voting against the measure only received $3,238 on average from these interest groups.

Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks and RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc. favored the measure, while the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association and the Consumers Union opposed it.

Includes reported contributions to congressional campaigns of House members in office on day of vote, from interest groups invested in the vote according to MAPLight.org, January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2010. Contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org