Municipal cable regulators in California are launching an all-out effort to "kill the bill."
A missive is hitting fax machines across the state in response to the announcement of a telephone-friendly cable-franchising-reform bill by co-sponsors Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys).
The fax, sent to members of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, said the bill, enabling statewide franchising for new entrants, is "bad for local government, California consumers and bad public policy for California."
The fax -- from NATOA president Lori Panzino-Tillery, the division chief, franchise programs for San Bernardino County, Calif. -- noted that city officials worked with state legislators for 18 months, but the draft does not address municipal concerns such as the loss of local right-of-way fees, connections to schools and libraries and local emergency-notification systems.
Local officials commonly work to amend bills to address their concerns, but on this proposal, NATOA is advising members to flood the phones and fax machines of the bill's sponsors with demands to kill this bill.
"The telcos cannot bully their way into the California market and ignore the concerns of our consumers," Panzino-Tillery wrote.
