CCP 09-26-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. NSCC Item VIA August 23, 1994 TO: Cable Commission (!lJiJ&rjV FROM: Coralie A Wilson Executive Director SUBJECT: August Report Lelrislative Update -- S. 1822 was marked up by the Senate Commerce Committe on August 11, using a Chairman's draft that was stripped of the language that had made the bill palatable to cities. According to a memorandum written by Joe Van Eaton and Nick Miller, "the bill is a disaster for state and local governments and for public interest groups." (See attached.) Frankly, from what I am hearing the legislation treads very closely to some Constitutional boundaries, but I have asked Sen. Wellstone's office to send me a copy of S. 1822 as it was approved by the Commerce Committee so that I can review the language for myself. . If the bill is scheduled for a vote, it will be after the Labor Day recess. I encourage you to have your Mayors and/or city managers contact Senators WeIlstone and Durenberger while they are home to let them know that S. 1822 is unacceptable and contrary to the interests of your city. The Van Eaton/Miller memorandum outlines some of the problems. I have also attached a a copy of a letter sent to the senators by the Board of the League of Minnesota Cities. (I am sending this same information to the city managers and administrators.) On the home front -- In the meantime, through LMC I have been active on several committees involved with telecommunications policy. The Telecommunications Task Force met on August 9 (and will meet again on August 30) and is charged with developing recommendations for consideration by the LMC Economic Development Committee. On August 16, several of us from the Task Force then met with several additional representatives from MACTA to refine Tom Creighton's White Paper and to discuss plans and strategies. In addition to supporting the drafting oflegislation incorporating the concepts outlined in the White Paper, this second group also believes that, with the League's support and assistance, we should be collecting other cities' rights-of-way ordinances and attempting to draft a model ordinance or odinances. The third group in which I have been involved is an ad hoc group of represen- tatives from various governmental and public interest organizations, including Common Cause Minnesota, the Urban Coalition, the Intergovernmental Information Systems Advisory Committee (IISAC), the Association of Minnesota Counties, Minnesota Citizens On Line, Minnesota Library , Association, etc. Although a very diverse group, all have an interest in telecommunications and . public policy. Our primary activity at this point is to monitor the appointments to and activities of