The Senate Study Committee on Telecommunications Taxes, Fees and Franchising will meet again tomorrow, Thursday, November 3, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 450 of the State Capitol.

Currently, telephone, cable and satellite companies are regulated and taxed differently.  But as technology converges, the differences between these companies have blurred.  Cable companies offer telephone service over their TV cables and soon AT&T will be offering television service over its telephone lines.

Our committee has been charged with taking a comprehensive look at telecommunications and reporting back to the General Assembly before it reconvenes in January. 

At the first meeting a month ago, we heard a number of proposals to “level of the play field” from industry groups and individual companies.  At this meeting, we will hear from the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.  

One issue that we will explore in more detail is the taxation of satellite dishes.  Currently, cable and telephone companies who provide TV service pay a “franchise fee” – usually 5% of the bill.   Satellite companies, on the other hand, pay no franchise fee. 

The cable companies suggested at our last meeting that we should “level the playing field” by taxing satellite providers at the same rate as the franchise fee for cable service.  They also suggested that the new revenue could be used to lower the rate to 3%.  We will be hearing from the satellite companies tomorrow.

I will keep you posted.

2 Comments »

I spent a good deal of my career as a political operative trying, without success, to defeat Zell Miller.  When I was executive director of the Georgia Republican Party in the early 1990s, I helped recruit Guy Millner to challenge him for re-election as Governor.  I even left my job at the party to manage Guy’s campaign.  In 2000, when Zell ran in the special election to fill the late Paul Coverdell’s term as United States Senator, I supported Mack Mattingly, serving as his volunteer campaign treasurer.

Perhaps that is why I reacted differently than most Republicans to Senator Zell Miller’s de facto conversion to the Republican Party.  I treated the whole business with bemused skepticism.  This is a man, after all, who had earned the nickname Zig Zag before I was old enough to vote.

But I was still looking forward to Zell’s speech at Georgia Right To Life’s Changing Hearts and Saving Lives Celebration.   I was expecting to be entertained and instead found myself being both moved and challenged.

The former Governor and United States Senator began by tracing his religious roots to the mountain churches of North Georgia.  He spoke frankly about the challenges of reconciling one’s religious faith with the demands of political expediency.  Church attendance is the easy part, he said.  Applying those principles in everyday life is the hard part.

As Governor, Zell Miller had a pretty good pro-life record.  He signed laws banning partial-birth abortion and requiring parental consent for a minor to obtain an abortion.  But in his speech, he dismissed these important pro-life accomplishments, saying he had done what he did because the polls suggested it was smart, not because his heart told him it was right.

His path to the Changing Hearts and Saving Lives Celebration was marked by a family medical tragedy that forced him to his knees in prayer and a grainy image of his unborn grandchild produced by the wonders of modern technology.  He talked about Baby Samuel, a “nonviable” 21 week old fetus from Villa Rica, Georgia, whose spina bifida corrective surgery was photographed by USA Today.  Science had compellingly confirmed to him what so many believe as an article of faith — that the fetus is a human being and not a mere clump of cells.

It was a good speech, and it earned him a standing ovation.  It also gave me pause to consider my own cynicism.  Zell Miller is not running for office.  He is not looking for votes or volunteers.  He was not paid a speaking fee, awarded an honorary degree or even given a plaque.  That 75 year old man had absolutely no reason to leave his beloved home in the mountains and brave the Atlanta traffic other than he believed strongly in what he had to say.

I am glad I was there to listen, and much to my surprise, I found myself wishing that his days in public office were not over.

No Comments »

It is the season for study committee meetings.  Earlier this week, I participated in the first meeting of the Senate Study Committee on Genetic Technology, chaired by Senator Eric Johnson.  The committee was formed to consider the legal issues arising out of advanced fertility treatments.  For example, what should happen to frozen eggs and sperm if a couple divorces or one of the donors die?  What are the inheritance and other rights of a child conceived after the death of the mother or father, using frozen eggs or sperm? 

Fascinating questions, and I am glad that Senator Johnson has taken the lead in gathering the information that we need to answer them.  At our first meeting, we heard from a leading fertility doctor, a lawyer who practices in adoption and surrogacy law and two couples who received fertility treatment. 

Less fascinating, but still important, was a meeting of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, called by Senator Bill Hamrick to review a proposed revision of Georgia’s securities law.  Bob Terry of Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office presented, section-by-section, a new model law prepared by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.  We will likely take up the new model in the 2008 Legislative Session, and I am glad that Chairman Hamrick has already begun familarizing the members of his committee with this complicated issue.

I also met this week with Mike Cassidy, President of the Georgia Research Alliance, a public-private partnership originally organized in 1990 to use the research capabilities of Georgia’s universities to encourage economic development.  The GRA is at the beginning of a major initiative to make Georgia a leader in vaccine research.   I strongly support the GRA and believe that Georgia is fortunate to have Mike Cassidy at its helm.

No Comments »

I attended the bill signing ceremony today for House Bill 227, the Consumer Choice for Television Act.  Immediately after the ceremony, AT&T announced a $500,000 million investment in Georgia.  The money will be spent upgrading the company’s fiber optics network to offer, among other things, “cutting edge television” service.

[UPDATE] The announcement is being discussed at Peach Pundit, which has posted a copy of the news release.

1 Comment »

I have been invited to a ceremony tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, May 30, at which the Governor will sign House Bill 227, the Consumer Choice for Television Act.  Introduced by Representative Jeff Lewis, Chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, this bill reforms the video franchise laws to encourage competition to cable television providers.

AT&T plans to offer television service over telephone lines, and this bill should accelerate the offering. 

The Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee worked on this issue for almost a year, and I was pleased to carry the bill for Chairman Lewis in the Senate.  The final product represents a good effort by the House and Senate and the various interest groups.  I am a strong believer in the benefits of competition.  This bill should help bring about better offerings, improved service and lower prices.

No Comments »

Senate Bill 148, the Saving the Cure Act, now has its own website at www.savingthecure.com. 

The site has a link to this 1998 article about Keone Penn, the insipration for this legislation.  Keone, then 12 years old, was cured of sickle cell anemia by an umbilical cord stem cell treatment.  Keone, now 21 years old, and his mother were with me at the State Capitol last year to promote passage of legislation creating a Georgia Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank.

For the latest information about the progress of the Saving the Cure Act, please visit www.savingthecure.com.

No Comments »

The Senate Rules Committee voted to put four bills on the calendar tomorrow morning:

Senate Bill 19, sponsored by Senator Jim Whitehead, authorizes the Georgia Department of Transportation to hold utility companies responsible for the failure to timely remove or relocate utilties within public rights of way when required for road construction.  Senator Whitehead sponsored a similar bill last year that passed both houses but was held up in the final hours of the session by Senator Vincent Fort, who filibustered a parks bill.

Senate Bill 24, sponsored by Senator Cecil Staton, prohibits the deceptive use of the Internet or email to induce another to provide personal identifying information.   This fraudulent practice is popularly called “phishing.”  I have worked with Senator Staton on this issue for two years, cosponsoring both this bill and a similar bill he introduced in the last session.

Senate Resolution 49, sponsored by Senator Chip Pearson, urges the United States Department of Justice to oppose the proposed takeover of Delta Airlines. 

Senate Bill 15, sponsored by Senator John Wiles, imposes additional penalties on those who are repeatedly caught driving without a license.  This bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7 to 3 and may be controversial, apparently because it requirees that a reasonable effort be made to determine the nationality of the person convicted or confined for driving without a license.

No Comments »