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Home My WebLink AboutAgenda - 12-13-2005-5jORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 13, 2005 Action Age 5 a Item No. ~_ SUBJECT: Letter to Congressional Committees on Cable Franchising Legislation DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIG HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Draft Letter INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Sepe, Action Audits, LLC (919) 467-5392 Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager, 245-2300 PURPOSE: To consider approval of draft letter to be forwarded to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, urging oppositicn to proposed legislation that would weaken local authority to regulate cable franchising. BACKGROUND: Congress has been wrestling far same time with various proposals being promoted by the Federal Communications Commission and/or the telecommunications and cable industry, in the name of "competition and consumer choice", that are causing great concern among local governments. These proposals, if enacted, could severely limit local regulatory authority and cause the loss of significant general fund revenue Triangle J Council of Government (TJCOG) staff and Bob Sepe, Action Audits, have met with North Carolina League of Municipalities' and North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' staff to develop joint efforts tc educate Congressional leadership and discourage unfavorable legislation. Attached is a draft letter to the appropriate committees of Congress prepared by Action Audits. TJCOG is asking its member governments to approve and forward a letter quickly since the committees are anticipated to take up discussion in early December. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with undertaking this action. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board review the draft letter, make any modifications desired, and authorize the Chair to sign. 2 DRAFT Via US Mail December _, 2005 The Honorable Fred Upton Chair Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet 2161 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-2206 The Honorable Tohn Dingell Ranking Member House Committee on Energy and Commerce 2328 Raybum House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-2215 Re: House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee "BITS II" bill of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Dear Representatives Upton and Dingell: I write to respectfully request that you oppose the "BITS II" bill, a staff draft advertised as "unleashing competition into the local video market", but which will instead deprive local govemments and their residents of competition, deny consumers effective means of redress, impact the safety of our roads, and eliminate millions of dollars of revenue annually out of local government budgets. In essence this bill is anticompetitive and anti-consumer.. The bill is anti-competitive: Without any evidence that a wire line video competitor has entered a local community, the bill permits cable and phone companies to buy each other out. This encourages further monopolization of our local markets. Without any evidence that effective competition exists in a local community, the bill deregulates all rates. The bill is anti-consumer: The bill would preempt all local authority over the provision of video services within the community, including the ability of local governments to provide appropriate oversight of entities conducting business within their jurisdiction and their streets. The bill would eliminate local governments authority to enforce consumer protections. There are currently 65 million cable customers whose cable service is potentially overseen by more than .35,000 local governments nationwide. The FCC is simply not prepared or staffed to handle the millions of local customer billing, repair and installation complaints that local governments resolve every month of every year.. • This bill would cap, and in numerous cases, reduce or eliminate the number of channels devoted to public, educational and government programming and remove local govemment enforcement authority to ensure that channels devoted to public educational and government programming, and institutional networks used for municipal and public safety purposes, are allocated and operated.. • BITS II would eliminate current grant and capital funding for public, educational and government channels, ultimately having the effect of cutting back or eliminating valuable channels for community residents, their schools and their government to communicate about issues not addressed by mainstream media.. • The bill would reduce cable franchise fees 10%-20%, by limiting gross revenues to subscriber fees.. This would force cutbacks in local funding of public safety personnel, infrastructure maintenance and other local projects that directly benefit local residents. It removes local governments' auditing authority to ensure franchise fees are paid in full, • Finally, the bill would eliminate local governments' ability to enforce local public rights-of--way laws, including the authority to relocate lines and facilities, to establish restoration and resurfacing standards, and to limit the frequency of excavation of public streets, and forces any non-compliance to be resolved by the FCC.. Tn essence, this would potentially shut down our local road systems in some cases because it removes our ability to ensure that our roads remain intact and traffic unhindered by cuts made by (often irresponsible) telecommunication subcontractors. Local govemments welcome competition, and it is important to understand that it is not our' local franchising process that has been the barrier to competition. In 1996, Congress granted regulatory relief to the telephone industry based on promises it would compete with the cable industry. Many telephone companies quickly obtained hundreds of franchises in Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. But soon after, the industry decided it was more prudent to consolidate into mega- regional companies rather than provide competitive alternatives.. The current local franchising process and oversight over local public rights of way is effective and does not need to be changed. The current process provides the truest form of local accountability to American households. Thank you for your time and attention Sincerely, Chair Ce: Sue Myrick (R-NC) 230 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet House Committee on Energy and Commerce SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA)* Mike Doyle (D-PA)* 205 Canon House Office Building 401 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D, C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-8890 Fax: (202)225-3084 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)* Bart Gordon (D-TN)* 2416 Raybum House Office Building 2368 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C.20515 Washington, D.C.20515 Fax: (202)226-0.333 Fax: (202)225-6887 Edward Markey (D-MA)* Ranking Member I-Iouse Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee & House Energy and Commerce Committee Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)* 2108 Rayburn HOB House Office Building .327 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)226-0092 Fax: (202)225-1915 Albert Wynn (D-MD)* Rick Boucher (D-VA)* 434 Cannon House Office Building 2187 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C, 20515 Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-8714 Fax: (202)225-0442 Bart Stupak (D-ML)* .lay Inslee (D-WA)* 2352 Rayburn House Office Building 308 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D,C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-4744 Fax: (202)226-1606 Frank Pallone Tr. (D-N.I)* George Radanovich (R-CA)* 420 Cannon House Office Building 12.3 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-9665 Edolphus Towns (D-N1~* Cliff Stearns (R-FL)* 2232 Rayburn House Office Building 2.370 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-1018 Fax: (202)225-397.3 Eliot L. Engel (D-NY)* Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)* 230.3 Rayburn House Office Building 2269 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5513 Fax: (202)225-4085 Sherrod Brown (D-OH)* Iohn Shimkus (R-IL)* 2332 Rayburn House Office Building 51.3 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-2266 Fax: (202)225-5880 E.d Whitfield (R-KY)* 301 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 t 5 Fax: (202)225-3547 Chip Pickering (R-MS)* Vice Chairman House Energy & Commerce Committee 229 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-5797 Lee Terry (R-NE)* 1524 Longworth FIouse Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202) 226-5452 Charles Bass (R-NH)* 2421 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-2946 Mike Ferguson (R-NJ)* 214 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-9460 Heather Wilson (R-NM)* .318 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-4975 Vito Fossella (R-NY) 1239 Longworth FIouse Office Building Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)226-1272 Paul Gilmor (R-OH)* 1203 Longworth FIouse Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-1985 John Sullivan (R-OK)* 114 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D,C.20515 Fax: (202)225-9187 Greg Walden (R-OR)* 1404 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5774 Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)* 509 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-3004 Barbara Cubin (R-WY)* 1114 Longworth FIouse Office Building Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-.3057 (HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE*) .Joe Barton (R-TX)* .Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) Chair 1027 Longworth House Office Building House Committee on Energy and Commerce Washington, D.C 20515 2109 Rayburn House Office Building Fax:(202) 226-2890 Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-3052 Henry A, Waxman (D-CA) 2204 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-4099 Hilda L. Solis (D-CA) 1725 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D,C. 20515 Fax:(202)225-5467 Albert R. Wynn (D-MD) 434 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D,C,20515 Fax: (202)225-8714 Gene Green (D-TX) 2.335 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C,20515 Fax: (202)225-9903 Ted Strickland (D-OH) 336 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5907 Diana DeGette (D-CO) 1527 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5657 Lois Capps (D-CA) 1707 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D,C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-56.32 Thomas Allen (D-ML) 1717 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C.20515 Fax: (202)225-5590 Jim Davis (D-FL) 409 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5652 Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) 1022 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C, 20515 Fax: (202)225-6942 Mike Ross (D-AR) 314 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-3772 Ralph M. Hall* (R-TX) 2405 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-.3332 Charlie Norwood (R-GA.) 2452 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D. C. 20515 Fax: (202)226-0776 John B, Shadegg, (D-AZ) .306 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D,C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-.3462 Roy Blunt, (R-MO) 217 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D,C.20515 Fax: 202 - 225- 5604 Steve Buyer (R-IN) 2230 Rayburn I-louse Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax:(202) 225-2267 .Joseph R. Pitts, (R-PA) 221 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)2.25-2013 Mary Bono (R-CA) 405 Cannon I-Iouse Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax:(202)225-29.31 Greg Walden (R-OR) 1210 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5774 Mike Rogers (R-MI) 133 Canon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-5820 C.L.. "Butch" Otter (R-ID) 1711 I.ongworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-3029 Tim Murphy (R-PA) 322 Cannon IIouse Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-1844 Michael Burgess (R-TX.) 1721 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Fax: (202)225-2919