Bill Text: HI SCR75 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Urging Hawaii's Congressional Delegation To Advocate For Local Franchising Authorities To Receive Greater Cable Television Regulating Power And For The Federal Communications Commission To Provide Clarity And Allow Local Franchising Authorities More Discretion Regarding The Regulation Of Cable Operators As It Relates To Public, Educational, And Governmental Access Channels.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-04-04 - Referred to IAC/CPC, FIN, referral sheet 52 [SCR75 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-SCR75-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
75 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
URGING HAWAII'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO ADVOCATE FOR LOCAL FRANCHISING AUTHORITIES TO RECEIVE GREATER CABLE TELEVISION REGULATING POWER AND FOR THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TO PROVIDE CLARITY AND ALLOW LOCAL FRANCHISING AUTHORITIES MORE DISCRETION REGARDING THE REGULATION OF CABLE OPERATORS AS IT RELATES TO PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL, AND GOVERNMENTAL ACCESS CHANNELS.
WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels provide numerous important benefits; and
WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels promote civic participation and government transparency through local government cable casts, including broadcasts of state legislative and county council proceedings and neighborhood board meetings, which enables viewers to remain informed, especially when time and distance may prevent an interested individual from attending the proceeding or meeting; and
WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels also provide programming that connects the State's unique communities via discussion and coverage of cultural matters and events; and
WHEREAS, public, educational, and governmental access channels serve a vital consumer protection function as a tool to alert the public during natural disasters and emergencies; and
WHEREAS, the re-designation or relocation of public, educational, and governmental access channel numbers requires strategic and coordinated communication with the public, as lack of sufficient communication will cause confusion and lead to a decline in public viewership of these channels; and
WHEREAS, access organizations that oversee public, educational, and governmental access programming may find it difficult to rebrand programs and their services with new channel numbers; and
WHEREAS, federal law limits the regulation of cable services by local franchising authorities; and
WHEREAS, with respect to channel assignments, federal law only expressly requires cable operators to provide thirty days' advance written notice of any repositioning of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station, including a re-designation of a channel number from its number as of March 29, 1990, thereby limiting local franchising authorities' regulatory powers over the re-designation or relocation of local public, educational, and governmental access channels; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission's ability to preempt state laws provides a challenge for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the State's local franchising authority, to regulate cable operators and the designation and location of public, educational, and governmental access channels; and
WHEREAS, federal legislation to provide greater discretion and clarity to local franchising authorities regarding the regulation of cable operators and the designation and location of public, educational, and governmental access channels would strengthen the ability of local franchising authorities to effectively address public concerns; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is respectfully urged to introduce and advocate for federal legislation to provide local franchising authorities with greater regulatory power over cable operators and the regulation of public, educational, and governmental access channels; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Federal Communications Commission is respectfully urged to consider the limitations of local franchising authorities and provide clarity and allow local franchising authorities more discretion regarding the regulation of cable operators as it relates to public, educational, and governmental access channels; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, and Governor of the State of Hawaii.
Local Franchising Authorities; Federal Communications Commission; Cable Operators; Public, Educational, and Governmental Access Channels
