From the Statehouse 2007 No. 12
by Jennifer Garrison
Jun. 16, 2007
FROM THE STATEHOUSE- June 15, 2007
Competition for the cable industry, lower prices for consumers, and more jobs are the goals of Substitute Senate Bill 117 which passed out of the House Thursday. Substitute Senate Bill 117, the Ohio Video Competition Act, allows video service companies to obtain a single statewide license to provide video service anywhere in Ohio. These companies, including cable, would no longer be subject to negotiating local franchise agreements with local governments.
Today our communities have one video service provider, a cable company, that negotiates an agreement with a local municipality and the consumer has no choice except satellite. Substitute Senate Bill 117, will allow other video provider companies to come into an area and compete for your business. Other states have passed similar legislation resulting in significant build out of telecommunications infrastructure and creation of more than 1000 new jobs.
AT&T in particular has plans to invest in video service infrastructure and will be competing with cable providers for Ohioans business. One of my concerns with the original bill was immediate termination of local franchise agreements for the cable companies even when competition did not exist in a community. I understand a need for a level playing field for the cable companies to compete with the other video providers, but only if there is competition.
One improvement the House committee made was to require competition for the incumbent cable provider, before an existing franchise agreement could terminate during the term of the contract. I believe rural areas are less likely to immediately see competition and therefore a reason did not exist to impair the local municipalities’ contract.
Additionally, the bill was amended to cure the entrance on property - eminent domain concern. Further, the video service providers are now required to assist the local government in addressing customer service complaints and expressly preserve the authority of the Consumer Sales Practices Act regarding video service providers.
In regard to PEG (public, educational and government) channels an amendment increased the number of PEG channels from 2 to 3 that may be on basic service. Some large urban areas have up to 6 PEG channels and therefore this amendment is quite significant.
Many municipalities have been concerned about the loss of franchise fee revenue when a cable provider terminates the contract because of competition. This bill allows a municipality to pass a resolution to recoup up to 5% of the gross revenue for their city, village or township. The local authority must notify the video service provider of the appropriate percentage of gross revenue to be recouped.
I support this legislation because expanding telecommunications infrastructure and innovation is necessary for Ohio to move forward and competition can drive down the price of video service to our communities. I voted “yes”.
Amended Substitute House Bill 8 provides that a public official will lose his or her state retirement system pension if convicted of one of 5 felonies. These include extortion and bribery, perjury, theft in office, unlawful interest in a public contract, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, or attempt to commit one of these offenses. I voted “yes”. The bill passed.
We voted on a number of other bills this week which I will describe in detail in future articles.
You can reach Jennifer Garrison at her Columbus office at 614-644-8728 or in the district at 740-373-2414 or by e-mail at jennifer@jennifergarrison.com. Her website is Riffe Center | 77 South High Street | Columbus Ohio 43215-6111 | (800) 282-0253 | District93@ohr.state.oh.us
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