Friend and foes of statewide video franchising bill AB- 2987 in C...
Friend and foes of statewide video franchising bill AB- 2987 in Cal. may have set a new state lobbying expense record for a single bill in the April-June quarter, spending $23.3 million trying to sway lawmakers, an average $256,000…
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per day. AT&T alone spent an average $196,000 daily pushing the bill. So far, lobbying by AT&T and Verizon has helped the bill pass the Assembly and 3 Senate committees without a single “no” vote. The bill is awaiting final Senate floor consideration, perhaps this week. Lobbying expense reports filed with the Cal. Secy. of State show AT&T between April and June spent $17.8 million on AB-2987, while Verizon spent $1.7 million. The incumbent cable industry spent $3.8 million, at first trying to stop the bill in the Assembly. But after the bill’s unanimous late-May Assembly passage, cable companies changed their focus to getting amendments like a municipal franchise opt-out provision that would ease the sting of state video franchising for the cable industry. Comcast was the single biggest cable lobbyist, spending $3.1 million. Veteran bill-watchers called spending on AB-2987 unprecedented. Consumer groups and municipalities, still opposed to the bill, said the phone companies’ spending offers a textbook example of wealthy special interests buying public policy.