Coalition Pushes Alternate Deregulation Bill in New Jersey
Backed by a coalition of groups that includes the AARP, an alternate telecom deregulation bill in New Jersey was introduced Monday during the state legislature’s lame duck session. AARP claimed the bill (S-3062) offers better consumer protection than the Verizon-backed deregulation bill (S-2664) that stalled earlier this year. Calling the alternate bill “a giant leap backwards,” Verizon said it continued its communications with the legislature and the governor’s staff to address issues raised by critics of the earlier bill.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The alternative proposal, co-sponsored by State Senators Bob Smith (D) and Loretta Weinberg (D), would eliminate what were called burdensome regulations while preserving rate caps on basic service and maintain state oversight of landlines. The bill, which was referred to the Senate Economic Growth Committee, would continue to protect consumers in markets where is no effective competition, said Evelyn Liebman, associate state director for advocacy at AARP. It would preserve carrier-of-last-resort provision, she said. It might be tough to get the bill passed during the lame-duck session, she said. The session is slated to end Jan. 9.
The bill takes the state in the wrong direction, said Dennis Bone, president of Verizon New Jersey. The alternate bill “inexplicably” increases regulatory oversight of the state’s telecom and cable providers that would stifle economic growth and innovation, he said. It would weigh down telecom and cable companies with “obsolete” regulatory requirements, he said.
The Verizon-backed bill that failed to get a Senate vote earlier this year (CD Feb 2 p8) would eliminate unnecessary oversight, Verizon had said. Nothing has happened with the bill yet in the Senate but industry players like Verizon have been talking to “legislative leaders and the governor’s staff,” a Verizon spokesman said. According to the legislative calendar, the first opportunity for the Senate to take up the bill is Dec. 15. AARP called the original bill “one of the most sweeping anti-consumer telecommunications and cable TV initiatives anywhere in the country.”