Save Access

from: Waxing America

AT&T Bill Rammed Through Wisconsin Assembly; Senate Follows the Law and Refers Bill to Joint Finance

In a marathon session yesterday, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly defeated over two dozen Democratic-sponsored amendments on party-line votes and passed AT&T's "video competition" bill, AB 207. The Senate, on the other hand, followed state law and referred SB 107, its version of the bill, to the Joint Finance Committee for consideration of the costs to the taxpayers of Wisconsin.

Scott Bauer, writing for the AP, focused on the cost to the state:

... Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, said a Joint Finance Committee review was needed to see what impact the bill would have on the state's $58 billion budget. Cost estimates have ranged from nothing to more than $600,000, she said.

Rules require any bill costing more than $10,000 to go through the committee, Robson said.

Under the bill, the state Department of Financial Institutions would license video service providers while another agency, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, would handle consumer calls and complaints.

The bill also would extend consumer protections to satellite TV for the first time.

Barry Orton, a University of Wisconsin-Madison telecommunications professor and consultant to local governments, said he estimates the change would cost the state at least $1 million.

Orton said slowing down consideration of the bill to understand its costs only makes sense.

"The state has to take into account the cost to taxpayers," he said. "The budget implications can't be ignored."

A Republican member of the Assembly, Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa, disagreed, blogging at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that:

The bill did not need further review by JFC. AB207 had already gone through the committee process where, after a long public hearing and a great deal of compromise, it was voted out of the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities on a vote of 9-1. In the Senate, the companion legislation, SB 107, passed on a vote of 7-0.

The hard work for any bill gets done at the committee level and Rep. Phil Montgomery (R-Green Bay) and Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) did their level best to ensure the process was fair and thorough. This bipartisan bill was ready for passage when it came to the floor today.

Sure it was, except for the small matter of the Legislature's rules requiring the costs to Wisconsin taxpayers to be considered by Joint Finance, except for the inability of municipalities, access operations and the public to be in the room when the bill's language was written, and except for the bill's critics being browbeaten at every opportunity by Rep. Montgomery at the only public hearing.

Rep. Vukmir's posts on this subject took a further turn away from reality when she wrote:

As I’ve watched the debate on video franchising, all parties – save for the municipalities (emphasis mine) have acted in good-faith, committed to the competition and benefits to the consumer. Time Warner, AT&T and a variety of other providers are poised to compete not just at price points, but on customer service as well.

Sure, those municipalities, frozen out of the bill drafting, acted in bad faith. But then Rep. Vukmir wandered closer to the truth:

A wise and rightly cynical public may be wondering what all of the fuss is about. Who are these TV4US people and are they really on my side? The answer: yes, and no. AT&T and other telephone companies want to actively compete with the cable companies who are now offering digital telephone service to subscribers. The phone companies want to make money and that is the driving force behind this push. (emphasis mine)

(This blogging stuff is new to Rep. Vukmir; looks like her staff forgot to have the AT&T flacks edit this paragraph - or maybe they were all busy working the Capitol. You couldn't throw a Nerf ball under the dome without hitting an AT&T or cable company lobbyist the last couple of days.)

The Capital Times yesterday had a good editorial on AT&T, their money, and this bill:

The legislation is an indefensible mess. It was written to serve the interests of the industries that are supposed to be regulated rather than Wisconsin consumers and communities. While there is no question that arguments can be made for changes in the way cable operations are regulated, this is the wrong plan at the wrong time.

Indeed, it is so wrong that supporters have been forced to pour a fortune into an advertising campaign designed to make Wisconsinites think they are getting a better deal -- when in fact Plale's plan makes it harder for citizens and municipalities to hold communications firms to account.

...Everything about this proposed legislation smells rotten.

But the stench that would rise from the Capitol if members who were recently lavished with AT&T money voted in favor of the company's top legislative priority would be even more foul.

- Barry Orton