HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2009-035 Resolution Opposing House Bill 1252 and Senate Bill 10042
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION OPPOSING HOUSE BILL 1252 and SENATE BILL 1004
(Entitled by Proponents as the Level Playing Field Act)
WHEREAS, House Bill 1252 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 1004, both entitled "Level
Playing Field/Cities/Service Providers" and referred to by proponents as the Level Playing
Field Act, have been introduced in the 2009 Session of the General Assembly of North
Carolina, and referred to the Senate Commerce Committee and House Public Utilities
Committee, respectively; and
WHEREAS, these bills do not provide a "level playing field" to cities, towns and counties,
but greatly hinder local governments from providing needed communications services,
especially advanced high-speed broadband services, in underserved areas; and
WHEREAS, the bills do not provide a "level playing field", but instead impose numerous
obligations on local government that private broadband companies do not have to meet; and
WHEREAS, private companies, despite having received favorable regulatory and tax
treatment to enable broadband investment, have chosen to avoid the financial commitment
necessary to provide top quality services, instead offering lesser quality, slower non-state-of-
the-art infrastructure technologies that are not even available to all residents; and
WHEREAS, while private companies declare top quality service is cost-prohibitive in our
country, the United States continues to lose ground to other nations in broadband access, cost
and growth in the number of users, falling behind the United Kingdom, Korea, France, Japan
and Canada to name a few, with Japan's less expensive internet access at least 500 times
faster than what is considered high-speed in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress provided funds in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act to reverse our country's catastrophic broadband decline by making local and state
governments, and not private communication companies, directly eligible for $4.7 billion in
federal grants to provide affordable access to high capacity broadband services in unserved
and underserved areas; and
WHEREAS, the bills would prohibit North Carolina local governments from using federal
grant funds to deploy or operate locally-owned or operated broadband systems, -thereby
denying North Carolina residents access to billions of dollars of federal assistance available
to the rest of the country and hindering employment opportunities; and
WHEREAS, deployment of true high-speed broadband internet is a new public utility vital
to the future economic development, educational outreach, and community growth in North
Carolina necessary to replace lost textile, tobacco, furniture and manufacturing jobs; and
3
WHEREAS, the General Assembly has already established 1) statutory provisions for Public
Enterprises (NCGS Chapter 160A, Article 16); 2) conservation finance provisions in the
Budget and Fiscal Control Act (NCGS Chapter, 159 Article 3); and 3) oversight by the Local
Government Commission (NCGS Chapter, Article 2), with a local government required to
comply with all of those requirements in order to undertake providing an enterprise service to
its community; and
WHEREAS, the two bills as proposed aze counter to the Local Development Act of 1925 in
NCGS Chapter 158 that allows local governments to aid and encourage economic
development in communities throughout North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina law has long permitted local governments to engage in public
enterprises and there is no justification for treating communications enterprises differently
from other public enterprises that aze essential for a sound economy; and
WHEREAS, historically it has been government that funded much of the current corporate
telecommunications infrastructure in the United States and government that paid for and
developed the Internet; and
WHEREAS, there are telecommunications designers, equipment manufacturers and
suppliers in North Carolina who will be negatively affected if local governments aze not
allowed to provide needed communications services, meaning North Carolina will stand to
lose more jobs by not investing in top-quality broadband infrastructure than it will lose due
to government provision of such services; and
WHEREAS, many for-profit companies with operations in North Carolina have joined
North Cazolina local governments in opposing these bills;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Orange County Boazd of
Commissioners, oppose House Bill 1252 and Senate Bill 1004 and any other similaz
legislation and urge all members of the North Carolina General Assembly to oppose this
legislation in committee and, if necessary, on the floor of the General Assembly.
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This the 5~` day of May ® t ~~~~~
sr :~ ~ ~~ ' ,~ Valerie P. Foushee, Chair
~` "~~~~~ ``~ Oran a Coun Board of Commissioners
~~;-:~ g tY
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Attest: ~ ~¢~~''
Orange County Board of Commissioners