Blanco vetoes cable competition bill Associated Press July 13, 2006
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=5145401 BATON ROUGE, La. Governor Kathleen Blanco has vetoed legislation that would have allowed telecommunications companies, such as BellSouth, to get a statewide franchise to deliver television service. In her veto letter, Blanco cited concern about whether local governments would end up losing money. Companies must negotiate with municipalities on a franchise agreement to offer television service. Traditionally, cable companies have been the ones to hold those franchises, usually paying larger areas such as Baton Rouge millions of dollars a year. The legislation would have allowed companies to provide cable and video services by getting a 10-year state franchise certificate. Areas that had a home-rule charter before 1974, such as East Baton Rouge Parish, would have been exempt. BellSouth maintained that it makes more sense to streamline the process rather than to work out an agreement with every town and parish. Groups like the Police Jury Association of Louisiana and the Louisiana Municipal Association were concerned about the impact of a national franchise. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
