Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990 TAG: 9007270104
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The bill, approved on a voice vote by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and sent to the full House, would restore much of the regulation that Congress removed in 1984 from a far less powerful cable industry.
Since then, the number of cable subscribers has soared, as have complaints about high prices and shoddy service. Committee members said they wanted to assure the health of the industry, as well as its competitors', while cracking down on cable TV's "bad actors."
Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, was prepared to introduce an amendment to the bill that would open up cable companies to competition from other TV providers, including local telephone companies. Boucher, however, tabled the amendment because fellow committee members had not had time to study the issue.
Boucher said he knew when he introduced his competition proposal a year and half ago it would "require a full Congress for incubation purposes." The bill is complex and will affect many interests, and many committee members told him they would appreciate not being pushed to vote on the competition issue this year, Boucher said.
Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingle, D-Mich., has promised Boucher his proposal will be a legislative priority in the next Congress, Boucher said.
He said the bill that was passed by the committee Thursday has about a 50-50 chance of passing. He said he voted for it.
"Some cable operators have betrayed the trust placed in them by the Congress," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill's principal sponsors. This measure would "rein in these sorts of renegades," he said.
But Rep. Billy Tauzin, D-La., noted that the bill "does not roll back cable rates . . . and does not undo some of the damage." Cable operators still will be allowed moderate rate increases, he said.
James Mooney, president of the National Cable Television Association, said the bill went "way too far in handing out regulatory benefits to competitors. We don't support it."
Committee officials hoped the House could vote on the bill before the August congressional recess begins next week. A companion bill containing slightly tougher provisions on rates and competition is awaiting a vote in the full Senate.
Bush administration officials have said they oppose the bills, but President Bush has not said whether he would sign such a bill.
The House bill, among other things, would require cable systems to provide a low-cost "basic tier" of local, public TV and government channels, with the Federal Communications Commission to decide on maximum rates for this tier.
It also would require the FCC to develop criteria to identify "unreasonable or abusive rates" for cable-owned programming, such as MTV and CNN. State or local authorities, but not individual consumers, could challenge existing rates for such channels. The bill would not affect pay-cable channels.
by CNB