Maine Passes Amended Video Franchise Bill

The Maine legislature passed a video franchise bill Thursday after the House amended it to remove language that would have defined video service providers as public utilities. The bill (LD-920) passed 21-13 in the Senate and 83-60 in the House and goes next to Gov. Janet Mills (D). The original reason for the utility definition was to enable the Public Utilities Commission to assess the necessary fee to cover franchise oversight, sponsor Rep. Christopher Kessler (D) told us. “The PUC says that the changes in the amendment will still enable them to assess that fee solely for the franchise oversight, which is in conformity with the federal Cable Act.” The amendment also clarifies “that we are only requiring that video service providers pay for the cost of equipment used to manage or deliver signal to that provider,” emailed Kessler. “There is no ‘gold plated’ equipment being allowed for purposes beyond sending and receiving their video.” Small towns “have been outgunned when it comes to the terms and enforcement of the provisions of their franchise agreements,” added Kessler. “This bill gives those towns the legal support they need, which is well within the legal authority granted to us under the Cable Act.” The office of Mills, who had intervened to seek changes (see 2106110067), didn’t comment Friday.