Current Position: Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (since July 2009)
Credit: FCC
Why She Matters
For a year, Baker headed the government program that offered $40 coupons to households that needed a converter box in order to switch to digital television. This program went over budget and Congress was forced to delay the TV switch, but Baker wasn’t blamed for the problems.
Now Baker joins the FCC as one of two Republicans on the five-person commission. She will help decide FCC policies regarding the regulation of television, Internet and radio. The commission also distributes broadband access to companies and approves media mergers and acquisitions.
She’s not an advocate of net neutrality, a position that runs counter to that of Obama FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s (D) idea of an open Internet. She fills the seat of former FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin (R). Her term will run through June 30, 2011.
The former lobbyist has strong ties to Texas, which includes her father-in-law, former Secretary of State James Baker III. Meredith Baker’s a veteran of the George W. Bush administration, and led the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as it managed the coupon program for consumers during the preparation for the national transition to digital television in June 2009.
At a Glance
Current Position: Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (since July 2009)
Career History: Acting director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (Nov. 2007 to Jan. 2009); Deputy of the NTIA (Feb. 2007 to Nov. 2007); Senior adviser to acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and head of NTIA (2004 to 2007)
Birthday: May 31, 1968
Hometown: Houston, TX.
Alma Mater: Washington & Lee University, B.A. (journalism and Spanish), 1990; Houston University, J.D., 1994
Spouse: James A. Baker IV
Religion: N/A
DC Office: 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554; Phone: (202) 418-2400
State/District Office: N/A
Email
Web site
Path to Power
Baker has a rich Texas heritage. Her great-great grandfather, Isaac Van Zandt, was an ambassador for Texas to the U.S., when Texas was its own country. Van Zandt helped negotiate the U.S. annexation of the Lone Star State. Baker’s father, Kirby Attwell, was a prominent Houston businessman who was president of Lincoln Liberty Life Insurance, reporting to former Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas).
For college, Baker went to Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., where she earned a degree in journalism and Spanish. In 1990, Baker got a job at the State Department working in the legislative affairs office. After two years, she went back to Texas, attending Houston University law school.
Baker graduated in 1994, and joined the Houston law firm DeLange & Hudspeth. Baker stayed for four years, before becoming a lobbyist for CTIA, a trade organization for wireless communication companies. In 2000, Baker moved positions again, becoming a senior counsel at Covad Communications. She took a leave of absence in 2000 to help the Bush-Cheney team during the Florida recount.
Bush Official
After two years at Covad, Baker moved to the lobbying firm Williams Mullen Strategies. She would only stay for two years before joining the George W. Bush administration as a senior adviser to acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Michael Gallagher. In 2007, Gallagher stepped down, and John Kneuer took the post; Baker became Kneuer’s deputy. But Kneuer lasted less than a year, and in November 2007, Baker became the acting head of NTIA.
Three months after she became the acting head of NTIA, Baker submitted her resignation. But Bush’s nominee for replacing Baker was never confirmed by the Senate, so Baker stayed at the NTIA through January 20, 2009.
Shortly after Barack Obama was inaugurated, Baker’s name began to surface as a possible candidate for a position at the FCC. In July 2009, the Senate confirmed Baker.
The Issues
Baker joins the FCC commission for the final two years of former Chairman Martin’s five-year term, which runs through June 30, 2011. The FCC board can only have three members from the same political party; Baker will sit in the minority alongside fellow Republican Robert M. McDowell. The FCC regulates a variety of communication mediums, which include television, Internet and radio. The commission also allocates broadband wires and approves media ownership.
Net Neutrality
FCC Chairman Genachowski has supported the concept of network neutrality, which means equal access to the Internet for all Web site owners. Internet cable providers, like AT&T, Verizon Communications and Time Warner, want to charge fees for use of their cable lines. Such fees would determine how fast a Web site downloads and could significantly affect the user experience. But these service providers, like AT&T, argue that the fee based model would actually give consumers better services like easier and crisper Internet telephone calls. Genachowski believes all players, big and small, should be granted equal Internet access, and has proposed rules to enforce the idea of net neutrality.
Baker, who hasn't said whether she will support Genachowski's rules, has said that net neutrality might actually stifle growth. "I'm just not convinced this is the key that opens the door to innovation, but instead one that deadbolts it locked, shut,” said Baker.
“I believe a better approach is to allow more time for the long-standing and time-tested voluntary, collaborative organizations and processes—the very ones that have enabled the Internet to succeed so phenomenally over its history—to develop technically-feasible and mutually-agreeable network management practices."
DTV Coupons
Baker first joined the Commerce Department's NTIA in 2004 as a senior adviser. Two years later, Congress budgeted $1.5 billion for the digital cable conversion, which required TV companies to broadcast through digital airwaves.
Conversion to DTV opened the sale of analog airwaves for other purposes, but would have caused any household using an antenna to receive TV signals to lose service at the time of the conversion. Households with older televisions needed to obtain a converter box, get a satellite or digital-cable service in order to receive a signal. In order to address those issues, Congress authorized the distribution of up to two coupons worth $40 each for the purchase of a conversion box.
In November 2007, Baker became the acting director of NTIA, which oversaw the DTV conversion process. She tried to quit a few months after becoming the director, but stayed in a temporary role until Obama entered the White House. While there, Baker led a program that faced serious troubles. The DTV conversion was originally set for February 17, 2009. But by January 2009, the NTIA had run out of coupon funds while nearly 500,000 households still waited to receive the $40. Early in her NTIA tenure, Baker opposed extending the deadline for the conversion, but by January 2009 she had called for a delay.
The DTV conversion was pushed back to June 2009. Baker was not blamed for the bulk of the problems that arose because she was a latecomer to implementing the program.
The Network
Baker works at the FCC alongside Chair Julius Genachowski (D) and fellow commissioners Mignon Clyburn (D), Michael Copps (D) and Robert McDowell (R).
Baker is married to George H.W. Bush's Secretary of State James Baker’s son, James A. Baker IV (Jamie). James Baker also led efforts for the Bush-Cheney ticket during the 2000 Florida recount.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R) picked Baker for the FCC spot after President Barack Obama asked Republicans in Congress to come up with nominees.
Campaign Contributions
Baker donated $2,300 to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ.) in 2008, to help fund his presidential campaign.
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