Author
AZ Radio IMC
10:36 minute Audio Copy of local PBS "Horizon" show of Debate between Susan Bittersmith,Az Cable Telecommunication Assoc.,and Kevin Adam with Az League of Cities & Towns concerning Legislation changing Cable TV in Arizona
House bill HB 2563, the bill pushed forth by COX cable lobbyists, has stalled in the house in a 28 to 28 vote but is expected to be reconsidered.
According to the Web site of the Arizona state legislature, house bill HB 2563 failed in the house by a 28-28 vote with 4 representatives not voting. The bill had passed in the house then passed in the senate after being amended.
This bill would effectively:
end public access channels by making them prohibitively expensive,
commercialize government channels allowing content to be influenced or even controlled by advertisers,
reduce in number or end completely local high school, community college, and university educational channels, and
regulate communities ability to charge equitable fees for commercial use of public property.
HB 2563, which the COX corporation lobbied to have introduced, is one example of how multinational or supernational corporations are gaining more control than the people have over government in the U.S.. While COX claims that the bill would save consumers money, the general effect would be to reduce or eliminate non-commercial voices on the television medium. Those of us old enough to remember the power of Pravda in the Soviet Union should understand where this is headed.
The state legislature can be contacted through the Web site of Access Tucson.
When you contact your state legislators, you might let them know that you will remember during the next elections who supported democracy and who chose instead to pledge his or her allegiance to the corporate state. You might also inform them that none of the effects listed above are acceptable.
According to the Web site of the legislature, the following house representatives voted for HB 2563 in the latest round:
District 1 (R) — Lucy Mason
District 3 (R) — Trish Groe
District 3 (R) — Nancy G. McLain
District 4 (R) — Tom Boone
District 4 (R) — Judy Burges
District 6 (R) — Pamela Gorman
District 7 (R) — Ray Barnes
District 7 (R) — David Burnell Smith
District 8 (R) — Michele Reagan
District 8 (R) — Colette Rosati
District 9 (R) — Rick Murphy
District 9 (R) — Bob Stump
District 10 (R) — James P. Weiers
District 11 (R) — John M. Allen
District 11 (R) — Stephen Tully
District 12 (R) — Jerry P. Weiers
District 14 (D) — Robert Meza
District 17 (R) — Laura Knaperek
District 18 (R) — Mark Anderson
District 18 (R) — Russell K. Pearce
District 19 (R) — Chuck Gray
District 19 (R) — Gary L. Pierce
District 20 (R) — John McComish
District 21 (R) — Warde Nichols
District 21 (R) — Steven B. Yarbrough
District 22 (R) — Andy Biggs
District 23 (D) — Cheryl Chase
District 30 (R) — Jonathan Paton
The following did not vote:
District 2 (D) -- Albert Tom
District 22 (R) -- Eddie Farnsworth
District 26 (R) -- Steve Huffman
District 30 (R) -- Marian A. McClure
The results of this vote cast strong doubt on the veracity of the claim by the Republican Party that it supports allowing local governments to make their own decisions.