Re: Illinois bill passes Senate
Annie Collins
Absolutely correct Jim. What a disappointment. The Legislature really
could've done something with the horrendous bill 678. Instead, people put
their efforts into making a bad bill better when they should've just killed
the bill in the first place. Much like putting lipstick on a pig...a pig is
still a pig.
Annie
________________________________
From: gio-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:gio-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf
Of JAMES CARLINI
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 5:47 PM
To: gio-...@googlegroups.com; Wireless Chicago
Subject: [GIO] Re: [Fwd: [ANNOUNCE] Illinois bill passes Senate]
Unfortunately, it still misses the the core issue of exchanging a statewide
franchise for a statewide guarantee to upgrade the network infrastructure to
at least 1Gbps.
Today, 8,000,000 people in Japan can get 100Mbps for $30 a month. We
aren't even close.
See my editorial tomorrow about how the US has now slipped to 24th in
Broadband Penetration.
JIM
Chuck Sherwood <Chuck.S...@verizon.net> wrote:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [ANNOUNCE] Illinois bill passes Senate
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:35:58 -0500
From: Barbara Popovic <bpop...@cantv.org>
<mailto:bpop...@cantv.org>
To: Alliance-announce <alliance...@lists.alliancecm.org>
<mailto:alliance...@lists.alliancecm.org>
CC: CAN TV <in...@cantv.org> <mailto:in...@cantv.org> , Greg
Boozell <g...@cantv.org> <mailto:g...@cantv.org> , Mary Stack <mst...@cantv.org>
<mailto:mst...@cantv.org>
Illinois bill SB 678 just passed the Senate 54-0. It will now go to
the Governor for his signature.
PEG issues in the original bill, HB 1500, were resolved per the fact
sheet below and attached.
Our communities will stay connected
PEG ACCESS is protected in SB 678 (HB 1500)
SB 678 (the amended HB 1500) passed in the Illinois House by
a vote of 113-0 on May 31 followed by a 54-0 vote in the Illinois Senate on
June 19.
SB 678 resolves public, educational, government (PEG) access TV and
many of the local regulatory control issues. Strong consumer protection and
enforcement provisions are included in the bill. SB 678 does not resolve all
concerns about build-out requirements but is an improvement over the
original HB 1500.
The Governor must sign the bill before it becomes law.
SB 678: Provides support for PEG at 1% of gross revenues above the
5% with a match above
that 1% for PEGs that currently receive more funding.
SB 678: Requires the statewide franchise holder cover costs
for carriage of PEG channels.
SB 678: Guarantees PEG channels will be carried in the same
format and with the same signal quality as commercial channels.
SB 678: Provides a 90 day timeframe for interconnection of
PEG channels.
SB 678: Provides for establishing PEG channels in
jurisdictions that currently have none and for adding additional PEG
channels when needed.
SB 678: Prevents the confiscation of PEG channels if
programs are repeated
SB 678: Prevents a reduction in franchise fees due to a
change in the franchise fee definition.
SB 678: Protects against losing funds from current cable
deals should cable operators opt in to the statewide franchise.