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from: Chicago Sun-Times

Letter To the Editor: For once, public good doesn't fall in a hole PEG access television gets important protections in proposed legislation

June 7, 2007

Within a short walk from the hubbub of the legislative session in the State Capitol in Springfield is a quiet plaza with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Inscribed are words spoken by the newly elected president in 1861 at his first inaugural address. Those words serve as a constant reminder to the men and women serving the people of Illinois today and in the future: ''Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?''

When it comes to big-stakes legislation these days, a more likely influence is that of pay-to-play politics. House Bill 1500 appeared at the beginning of the legislative session as part of the telephone industry's push to enter the cable market. AT&T launched an army of lobbyists and a massive advertising campaign to influence legislators to support a bill that fell far short of protecting the public interest or Illinois consumers.

In states that have hastily passed legislation, consumer protections have been stripped away, local government authority ended, and public, education and government (PEG) access television harmed to the point that in a number of states, PEG access will be completely phased out.

Not so in Illinois. Instead of the fast track, the House stood firm for fair competition. House leaders instituted a meaningful democratic process that brought the attorney general together with cities, consumer advocates, public, education and government interests, telephone and cable to craft an amended bill. The thin curtain of promises was pulled aside and the stage set for some real work.

By the time House Bill 1500 reappeared as an amendment to SB 678, now pending in the Senate, it bore little resemblance to the original bill. Important public protections had been put in place.

A defining conversation about statewide legislation took place on Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV) last fall that foreshadowed the progress of HB 1500. Guests included Joseph Bast of the Heartland Institute, AT&T's selected guest for the program, who said, ''Let's get democracy out of the way and let the market work on this.''

Anthony Riddle, head of Alliance for Community Media, representing CAN TV and other PEG access centers, responded, ''We the people cannot be viewed as an impediment.'' President Lincoln agreed more then a century ago: ''Is there any better or equal hope in the world?''

Barbara Popovic, executive director, Chicago Access Network Television