Link: The Capital Times.
Citing the steep price hikes cable companies have instituted in recent years, proponents say national franchising will allow phone companies to quickly bring competition to communities across the country. Opponents warn such legislation cuts local control, could harm local government and public access channels such as WYOU and CitiCable12 in Madison, and would enable "redlining" - having companies serve only affluent areas rather than entire communities as cable firms are required to do under their franchises.An anti-redlining amendment offered by Baldwin, D-Wis., lost 20-28 and was one of several such efforts to fail.The committee did approve an amendment offered by chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, that set it up so that refusal to serve homes based on income could cost a phone company up to $50,000 per day in fines until a remedy had been enacted.However, Orton said that amendment names the Federal Communications Commission as the governing authority, rather than the local franchising body."(Proponents of the bill) want it all uniform nationally with everything going to the FCC," Orton said. "But FCC has no staff or experience to do any of this. And no local knowledge. Have they ever heard of Allied Drive? And they won't get (the necessary) budget. What it means is we throw this down the black hole and therefore nothing ever happens."Baldwin's other amendment lost only 19-20, with Republican co-sponsor Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. forced to miss the vote to deal with an intelligence bill on the floor of the House. The amendment would have ensured that existing funding agreements for access channels would not have been pre-empted by the uniform clause of the national bill.