LD 947 Status Update
The Utilities
and Energy committee met on April 29, 2003, in a work session re: LD 222
and LD 947. After some discussion and kindly
listening to my remarks, (see below) they voted
unanimously "Ought not to pass" for LD947 and they carried LD222 forward
to the January session. The Committee recognized the work that CTAM had
done in bringing this legislation forward and also referred to the
letter from the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) describing what
actions MMA would be taking to help their member towns. In a letter to
MMA which is forthcoming, the committee will be requiring MMA to provide
the committee with confirmation of their proposed activities and will
also require MMA to provide the committee with copies of any
publications that MMA will be developing to help towns with the
franchising process. Because the majority of the committee was reluctant
to establish a new state board at this time, the committee felt that it
would be in the best interests of everyone to proceed as I have
described above. Rep. Berry reminded everyone that LD947 was not dead,
"it is just being moved into that drawer over there" and he pointed to a
row of drawers that line the side of the room. The message was clear. If
the towns need this legislation in the future, it can be re-introducted.
CTAM would like
to take this opportunity to thank all those who supported our second
legislative effort in 25 years. The first one, in 1978, among other
things, required all franchises in Maine to be non-exclusive and to
include provisions for one or more Public, Educational and Governmental
Channels.
Respectfully Submitted,
Tony Vigue, Legislative
Review
Community Television Association of Maine
P.O. Box 2121, South Portland, ME 04116
Phone: 207-767-7615
e-mail:
[email protected]
Address Before Utilities and Energy Committee
Chairman Hall, Chairman Bliss, Distinguished members of the
Committee;
I am Tony Vigue, I reside in Standish and work in South Portland.
Most of you will recognize me as the author of this legislation.
We, the Community Television Association of Maine, submitted
LD947�with diplomacy, involving as many stakeholders in the process as
wanted to participate. We are also guilty of a certain amount of
�benevolency� on behalf of the smaller towns who are either not aware of,
or are financially unable to avail themselves of the resources that a
state board of this type could provide.
We are encouraged by the recent announcement by MMA to expand their
assistance to member towns in the form of educational materials and work
sessions on franchising. However, CTAM stands ready to re-submit a �new
and improved� version of this legislation should it become necessary.
In that event, we will probably use less diplomacy, but we will
certainly approach the legislature with a new appreciation for the
political process that accompanies successful legislation.
We hope that in accepting the MMA offer, this committee will also
include some measure of accountability.
Regarding LD222, we do not pretend to speak for Rep. Gerzofsky,
however, I would repeat what I said to Rep. Bliss in an e-mail last week.
Rate regulation as presently allowed by Federal Law can only produce
significant results when applied over several thousands of subscribers. A
1 cent error or increase doesn�t mean much to the few hundred subscribers
of a small town, especially when it takes a mountain of paperwork to find
it, but it does become significant when it applies to thousands of
subscribers in many towns that may be franchised by one cable operator.
You will have to decide if this kind of oversight is as important as that
which the PUC currently monitors for telcos and power companies.
Thank you for your consideration.
Tony Vigue
An Act to Create a Cable Television Franchise
Board (LD 947)
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Purpose: This act will
provide for the creation of a statewide Cable Television Franchising
Authority or �Board�.
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Scope: The Board shall be
responsible for the review and approval of any new CATV Franchise
Application, Renewal or Transfer that is proposed by any cable operator
doing business in the State of Maine. Final approval and adoption of
such Franchises shall remain with the municipality or municipalities
being served.
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Objective: The Franchise
Board shall regulate the licensing of cable operators and systems while
overseeing the interests of both cable operators and cable subscribers.
It will create and enforce regulations governing initial franchising,
renewal and transfer of cable licenses in addition to providing
technical oversight, legal information and outreach to municipalities.
It will provide a uniform, standardized procedure for cities and towns
to follow during the Franchise process, and will insure that certain
Franchise Standards are applied equally to all municipalities regardless
of their size or their financial ability to retain legal or technical
expertise when reviewing Franchise Proposals.
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Appointments: There shall
be 7 appointed members to the board representing the following
interests: General Public (2), Cable Industry (1), Community Television
Association of Maine (1), Maine Municipal Association (1),
Municipalities (2- One large, pop. over 15,000, one small, pop. under
15,000)
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Appointments shall be made
by: The Governor ( 3), Senate (2) House (2)
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The general requirements
that the Board shall consider when reviewing and approving a CATV
Franchise Application, Renewal or Transfer shall include, but not be
limited to:
1. Financial soundness and stability, both of the applicant generally
and the particular proposal;
2. The proposed service offerings to customers, including the number
of channels and the ability and capacity of the system to offer
additional varied services in the future, especially the ability to
provide Public, Educational and Governmental Access channels with
capital funding to support their equipment requirements;
3. The commitment to a construction and in-service schedule with
appropriate bonding insurance;
4. The experience and ability of the applicant to run and manage a
cable television system;
5. The tariff and the rates proposed to be charged to customers;
6. Proposed consumer policies, particularly re: complaints and
problems;
7. Availability of service to maximum number of residences;
8. The technical qualifications of the applicant and the quality of
the engineering design and materials to be used in the system;
9. Logical fit with neighboring systems for possible future
interconnect.
10. Proposed Franchise Fee amount and schedule for payments.
VII. Funding: The board shall be funded in the following manner:
The board shall be authorized to make an assessment for each fiscal
year against each licensee (cable operator) with operating revenues
exceeding one million dollars based upon the operating revenues of each
licensee derived from sales within the state of any cable television
service as shown in the most recent annual report to the division of
each said licensee. Said assessment shall be determined and certified by
the board so as to produce not more than two hundred thousand dollars in
revenue for each fiscal year to be allocated among such licensees in the
proportion that each licensee's share of such operating revenues bears
to the total of all such licensees in the state during the previous
calendar year. The funds produced by such assessment shall be allocated
to the administrative, operational, equipment and personnel expenses of
the board, subject to appropriation.