SUN PRAIRIE -- Wisconsin State 46th District Assembly Representative Gary Hebl, of Sun Prairie, said a new bill he is proposing puts people first, not corporations.
The bill, called the Cable Consumer Repair Bill, attempts to reform statewide video franchise agreements that were established under 2007's Cable Competition Law. The Cable Competition Law has come under fire from cable consumers, local governments, and local cable access television stations because, among several complaints, it eliminated a large majority of the funding source for local cable access stations and pushed local cable programming to obscure, poor-quality channels.
Hebl said his proposal addresses the concerns of multiple interests.
"I have worked very hard this legislative session to create a bill that brings together a broad based coalition of stakeholders," said Hebl. "While every group brought a different set of concerns to the table, we all agreed that our current system of cable regulation puts the interest of the cable companies ahead of us all. It's time to create a system that puts people, not corporations, first."
Hebl's proposal reinstates consumer protections that are currently suspended if more than one company operates in an area, strengthens municipal cable funding tools, removes the sunset date for public access station support fees, increases demand for union jobs by requiring cable outages to be repaired within 24 hours and promotes broadband build-out in rural areas by requiring 90 percent broadband build out within 18 months. If the company does not comply, it will be required to pay $20 million into a grant fund for companies that will provide broadband build-out.
The bill has been endorsed by the Wisconsin Association of Public, Educational and Government Channels the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, the Wisconsin Towns Association, Communications Workers of America Local 4622 of Beaver Dam, Communications Workers of America Local 4603 of Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Hebl also asked the state's Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) to conduct a study of how last year's cable bill--which was promoted as a method to reduce cable costs--impacted consumer choice and cable prices.
"As you know, 2007 Act 42 was touted as a cable competition bill designed to bring about expanded choices and lower prices for cable consumers," Hebl said in a letter to the LAB. "I am asking that you investigate whether this legislation, and the statewide franchising of cable television it authorized, has resulted in lower prices for the consumer."
According to a spokeswoman for Hebl, the study is currently underway. However, a University of Minnesota study revealed that cable rates often increased in states with legislation similar to Wisconsin's Cable Competition Law. According to the study, in Wisconsin prices for expanded basic cable have actually increased nearly 28 percent from late 2006 to 2009.
