To: Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
From: National Taxpayers Union
Date: December 2, 2025
Subject: NTU’s Views on December 3, 2025, Committee Markup
I. Introduction and Key Taxpayer Considerations
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we write to express our views on several measures slated for consideration before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on December 3, 2025. NTU applauds the Committee for its continued efforts to advance legislation that improves government efficiency, cuts red tape, protects consumer choice, and boosts American energy production. As such, NTU strongly urges Committee members to support the following 13 bills.
II. Legislation NTU Supports at December 3 Markup
H.R. 1343, Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act (Reps. Pfluger and Soto)
H.R. 1588, Facilitating DIGITAL Applications Act (Reps. Miller-Meeks and Dingell)
H.R. 1665, DIGITAL Applications Act (Reps. Cammack and Matsui)
H.R. 1681, Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Act (Reps. Evans and Craig)
H.R. 1731, Standard FEES Act (Reps. Palmer and Ryan)
H.R. 6046, Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act (Reps. Joyce, Landsman, and Peters)
H.R. 2289, American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025 (Rep. Buddy Carter)
H.R. 3474, Federal Mechanical Insulation Act (Rep. Weber)
H.R. 4758, Homeowner Energy Freedom Act (Rep. Craig Goldman)
H.R. 4690, Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act (Rep. Langworthy)
H.R. 4626, Don’t Mess With My Home Appliances Act (Rep. Allen)
H.R. 4593, Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing (Rep. Fry)
H.R. 5184, Affordable Housing Over Mandating Efficiency Standards Act (Rep. Houchin)
III. NTU’s Perspective on Supported Legislation
H.R. 1343 – Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act – Support
This legislation, introduced by Reps. Pfluger (R-TX) and Soto (D-FL), requires the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit a plan to Congress outlining how NTIA will track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of Form 299 applications for communications use authorizations on federal lands. The plan must also explain how NTIA will provide applicants with greater transparency regarding the status of their submissions and identify any barriers to implementing such a tracking system. These requirements apply to communications facilities located on federal lands managed by the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, including Bureau of Land Management lands, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Forest System lands.
This bill represents a focused, low-cost oversight measure. Greater transparency should help reduce delays that drive up the cost of broadband projects, including those supported by federal funds. By promoting clearer processes and more accountability across land-management agencies, the bill supports more efficient use of taxpayer resources. NTU supports this straightforward, transparency-oriented measure.
H.R. 1588 – Facilitating DIGITAL Applications Act – Support
This legislation, introduced by Reps. Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Dingell (D-MI), requires NTIA’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to provide recurring reports to Congress on the status of online permitting portals for Form 299 applications. Beginning 90 days after enactment, and every 60 days thereafter until both agencies have operational systems in place, NTIA must report on whether the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture have established online portals to accept, process, and dispose of Form 299 submissions, and identify any barriers preventing their development. The bill also requires each department to notify NTIA promptly once its portal is active. These provisions apply to communications use authorizations on public lands and National Forest System lands.
This is a modest but important oversight measure. Federal land-use permitting remains slow and cumbersome in part because applicants must navigate outdated, paper-heavy processes spread across multiple agencies. While the bill does not itself mandate the creation of these online portals, it requires recurring reporting on their status and on barriers to establishing them, thereby increasing accountability and encouraging overdue modernization. By improving transparency and reducing avoidable delays, this legislation supports more efficient broadband deployment and better stewardship of taxpayer resources. NTU supports this straightforward, modernization-focused reform.
H.R. 1731 – Standard FEES Act – Support
This legislation, introduced by Reps. Palmer (R-AL) and Ryan (D-NY), requires the Administrator of General Services to establish a uniform, cost-based fee schedule for processing applications to place communications facilities on federal buildings and other federal property. The schedule must reflect the direct costs agencies incur in processing the standard forms used for these applications and similar requests, and it must remain competitively neutral across comparable uses. The bill also permits narrowly tailored exceptions where there is a clear public benefit or where doing so would support expanded broadband deployment. Once GSA issues the schedule, each executive agency must adopt it through regulation and may grant exceptions only on a case-by-case basis. Fees collected under the new framework may be used solely to cover processing costs and supersede any conflicting fee authorities.
This is a measured and fiscally responsible reform. Current fee practices vary significantly across agencies, creating unpredictability for applicants and increasing the risk that agencies either over-collect—effectively imposing a hidden tax—or under-collect, shifting costs onto taxpayers. By standardizing fees and grounding them in actual processing costs, the bill enhances transparency, improves consistency across federal land-management agencies, and ensures taxpayers are not subsidizing private deployments. NTU supports this balanced, cost-based approach to improving federal permitting efficiency.
H.R. 2289 – American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025 – Support
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Carter (R-GA), makes a series of targeted reforms to streamline broadband permitting and reduce long-standing regulatory delays. It establishes clearer timelines for state and local decisions on applications to place, construct, or modify both wireless and wireline communications facilities, narrows the scope of documentation that governments may require from applicants, and strengthens existing federal safeguards that prohibit regulations that block or unreasonably delay deployment. These measures are designed to bring greater predictability and consistency to processes that have often been fragmented across jurisdictions.
By addressing these procedural barriers, the bill helps lower the cost and complexity of broadband build-outs—costs that frequently spill over into higher federal spending when deployment relies on federal grants. The legislation does not create new programs or expand federal subsidies; instead, it ensures that existing resources are used more efficiently by reducing avoidable permitting delays. NTU supports this effort to improve transparency, reduce regulatory friction, and promote more cost-effective broadband deployment.
H.R. 3474 – Federal Mechanical Insulation Act – Support
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Weber (R-TX), clarifies that installing mechanical insulation qualifies as an energy- or water-efficiency measure that federal agencies may identify during the comprehensive energy and water evaluations required for federal buildings. The bill amends section 543(f) of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to define “mechanical insulation property” as insulation materials, facings, and accessory products installed on mechanical systems in a manner that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1 and results in reduced energy loss. It also specifies that agencies’ periodic evaluations must include the identification of potential energy- and water-saving measures, including mechanical insulation when applicable.
The bill is a narrow and practical clarification. By encouraging agencies to evaluate cost-effective, high-value upgrades within existing processes, the bill promotes fiscal discipline and supports long-term savings for taxpayers without expanding federal bureaucracy. NTU supports this sensible, efficiency-oriented reform.
H.R. 4758 - Homeowner Energy Freedom Act - Support.
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Goldman (R-TX), is a much-needed corrective to the costly and heavy-handed mandates from the misguided Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). By repealing three costly provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, it pushes back against Washington’s attempt to tilt the marketplace against consumers and drive up household costs. These provisions include $5.7 billion in wasteful spending on appliance rebates, workforce training programs, and federal incentives for states to adopt stringent energy efficiency building codes—initiatives that come with significant hidden costs. In fact, estimates indicate that building codes requirements could add more than $20,000 to the price of a new home. At the same time, the bill saves billions in taxpayer dollars that can be used for deficit reduction instead of being wasted on Green New Deal-style programs.
H.R. 4690 - Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act - Support.
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Langworthy (R-NY), addresses the particularly stringent energy-efficiency standards that have increased costs and slowed down construction of infrastructure projects of all types. By repealing those outdated standards, the bill would restore flexibility for federal agencies to design and build using the most efficient, cost-effective, and context-appropriate methods. Most importantly, it would reduce wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. It would repeal part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that requires a complete phaseout of natural gas use from all new and renovated federal buildings beginning in 2030. By rescinding these standards, the bill allows agencies to choose solutions that deliver real benefits, prioritizing durability, reliability, or practical energy approaches without unnecessary cost inflation. This fiscal prudence helps ensure that scarce taxpayer funds go toward meaningful infrastructure improvements, not bureaucratic checkboxes.
H.R. 4626 – Don’t Mess With My Home Appliances Act – Support.
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Allen (R-GA), would protect consumer choice in the home appliance sector. Specifically, it would reform the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) to prevent the Department of Energy from using appliance efficiency standards as a backdoor means of driving non-electric appliances and equipment out of the market. This legislation is needed because it would stop future administrations from creating costly standards to discourage certain appliances like gas stoves in favor of the electrification of appliances. American consumers deserve to have choice when they are making decisions, and the options before them should be driven by market forces, not big government directives that will ultimately raise costs across the board.
H.R. 4593 – Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing – Support.
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Fry (R-SC), would protect consumer choice in the showerhead market. Specifically, it codifies President Trump’s executive order maintaining acceptable water pressure in showerheads, which overturns efforts by the Biden Administration to create expansive rules impacting showerheads. This legislation is needed because it would give consumers the option to purchase showerheads more powerful than what the last administration would have considered legal. American consumers deserve to have choice when they are making decisions, and the options before them should be driven by market forces, not big government directives that will ultimately raise costs across the board.
H.R. 5184 – Affordable Housing Over Mandating Efficiency Standards Act – Support.
This legislation, introduced by Rep. Houchin (R-IN), removes duplicative energy standards that exist between HUD and DOE when constructing manufactured housing. Specifically, both HUD and DOE issue energy efficiency standards, which means home builders have to follow two sets of rules, creating a significant compliance burden for manufactured home manufacturers and thereby threatening the supply of these homes and increasing cost. Eliminating DOE’s role here and giving HUD sole responsibility removes unnecessary bureaucracy and may make it easier for everyday Americans to buy homes at a more affordable level.
IV. Contact Information
Should you have any questions about the recommendations in this memo, please do not hesitate to reach out to Thomas Aiello at taiello@ntu.org for energy questions or Ryan Nabil at Rnabil@ntu.org for telecom questions.