• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, January 7, 2015

For the second year in a row, two Democratic lawmakers are proposing a net neutrality measure that would prohibit broadband providers from creating paid fast lanes.

The Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act of 2015 introduced today by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), tasks the Federal Communications Commission with crafting regulations that would prohibit broadband providers from charging companies extra fees for faster delivery of their content. The measure also would prohibit Internet service providers from giving preferential treatment to their own material (or material provided by their affiliates).

Net neutrality advocates like the group Public Knowledge quickly praised the move. "The Leahy-Matsui bill points towards one of the basic goals for Open Internet rules: the principle that paid prioritization practices should not be allowed to create a two-tiered internet,” Chris Lewis, a vice president at Public Knowledge said today in a statement. “Consumers expect to reach any part of the internet, and to use the app or service of their choice when they do so, without paying additional tolls to ISPs.”

As a practical measure, however, it seems unlikely that the bill will gain traction, given that some GOP leaders have vowed to oppose net neutrality regulations.

Of course, the FCC need not wait for a Congressional mandate to act.

But Wheeler still hasn't officially unveiled the potential regulations, but some observers believe he's preparing to reclassify broadband as a utility service.

Initially, Wheeler proposed a set of rules that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or degrading traffic, but allow them to charge companies extra fees for faster delivery.

That idea drew a significant backlash from net neutrality advocates, who warned that paid fast lanes could disadvantage smaller companies, nonprofits and others who can't afford to pay for speedy delivery of their material.

Among the critics of Wheeler's original proposal was President Obama, who publicly called on the FCC to reclassify broadband service as a utility. Doing so would allow the agency to impose the kinds of common carrier regulations that require telephone companies to put through all calls.

Wheeler will circulate the official proposal to other commissioners on Feb. 5, three weeks before the vote.