Md. lawmaker withdrew bill (HB-957) that would have required stru...
Md. lawmaker withdrew bill (HB-957) that would have required structural separation of Verizon into independent retail and wholesale business units in face of near-certain defeat in committee. But issue isn’t dead, said state Rep. Joan Stern (D- Montgomery County).…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
By withdrawing bill, she gained right to refer matter for intersession legislative study. Stern said her staff had begin process of forming legislative work group that would consult with regulators and legislators in other Verizon states and elsewhere on what approaches had proved effective in promoting local service competition. She said her bill was target of “aggressive lobbying, to the point where we couldn’t tell fact from fiction.” She said uncertainty meant bill probably would have failed in vote that had been scheduled by House Environmental Matters Committee . Stern said she hoped to have first meeting of legislative work group in late May, with reports to PSC and legislature by Oct. “I hope we sent Verizon a message with this bill,” she said. “We want to see local competition throughout Maryland. We intend to bring competition about, either through PSC action or with legislation next year.”