The state Senate passed a bill hoped to encourage competition in the cable television industry Thursday, though only after an exhaustive series of amendments were debated that often passed or failed due to one vote.
The bill passed 23 to nine, with half of the 18 Senate Democrats voting against the bill. Over 20 amendments were offered on the bill, but only a few actually passed in votes as close as 16 to 17 in the 33 member Senate.
One amendment passed states that a cable company moving into a market must provide access to UW System sporting events if a UW System school requests access and has a similar agreement with another company.
According to the Associated Press, state Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who proposed the amendment, said it would not resolve the ongoing negotiations between cable companies and the Big Ten Network.
The amendments added to the bill mean it must be sent back to the state Assembly for another vote before Gov. Jim Doyle would be able to sign it. The bill passed the Assembly 66 to 28 in May.
I supported AB 207 so that the video and cable industries could move forward to take advantage of new opportunities and utilize new technology,"" said state Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, in a statement, ""there were obvious challenges with the bill, which is why I supported various amendments, but I didn't want to put up roadblocks that would prevent the bill's passage.""
According to state Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Chippewa Falls, both Doyle and the Assembly will likely pass the bill.
Kreitlow said he voted for many of the amendments that failed to pass Thursday concerning consumer protections and voted against the overall bill in the end.
The level of consumer protections and support for local access channels was not high enough in the bill, according to Kreitlow, though he said he approved of the intention to increase cable competition in the state.
The amendments that passed did not deal largely with consumer protections, Kreitlow said.
One amendment made large cable companies pay an annual fee of $2000 for a franchise in the state, whereas the earlier version of the bill allowed a one-time payment of $2000 for an unlimited franchise, according to Kreitlow.
Kreitlow said if Doyle passes the bill as he is expected to do, the effects would be seen immediately in some cable markets, like Milwaukee, where AT&T is expected to make a push into more parts of the metropolitan area.
