The Wisconsin Senate passed a lightly amended version of an Assem...

protections and protect funding for public access channels. The bill passed the Assembly in April, but was held up in the Senate through the summer and early fall while the legislature addressed the state budget. The Senate added an amendment to require large video providers to pay an annual $2,000 franchise fee instead of a large one-time fee, while small providers would pay $2,000 the first year and $100 annually in subsequent years. Another amendment would require that all video providers in a market show University of Wisconsin sporting events upon university demand if any one provider carries coverage. The bill now returns to the Assembly for concurrence Dec. 11. The measure includes a video consumer bill of rights that opponents said would weaken service quality standards and consumer protections now provided under municipal franchises. For instance, outage credits wouldn’t begin until service was out for 24 hours, but many local franchises now require a credit for outages over four hours. But attempts to add more protection failed. Consumer protections would be enforced through the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, but opponents said the bill doesn’t increase the agency’s budget to handle the video workload. Opponents’ attempts to provide such funding failed. The bill bans redlining but doesn’t impose any buildout requirements on state-franchised entrants. Opponents said this would mean rural areas never will see video competition, but attempts to mandate rural buildouts failed. Incumbents can opt out of existing municipal franchises but would have to continue existing support for public access channels for three years. The bill would cap municipal franchise fees at 5 percent, and would bar additional fees such as those that support public access channels in many cities. Presently, many local franchises include a separate fee of 1 or 2 percent that supports public access programming. Critics said this provision effectively kills off public access programming, but they failed with attempts to amend the bill to secure public access funding. Opponents also failed to pass an amendment requiring video providers to keep call center jobs in Wisconsin. AT&T lobbied heavily for the bill, fielding 15 lobbyists and spending $205,000, according to state records. AT&T now provides video service in the Milwaukee metro area, but would be able to expand statewide if this bill is enacted.