At this morning’s three-hours-earlier-than-usual Senate Commerce Committee meeting, S.1004, the so-called Level Playing Field Act (companion to House bill H.1252), was sent to the Revenue Laws Study Committee. While it appears this particular bill has been defanged, I don’t for a minute expect Time Warner Cable to roll over and play dead – in spite of Time Warner Cable allegedly now claiming it wanted a study bill all along.
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Here [PDF] are the contact numbers for the Senate Commerce Committee members. They will hear the Senate version of the “Level Playing Field Act” bright and early at 8 AM tomorrow in room 1027 of the Legislative Building.

Chairman
Sen. R. C. Soles, Jr. 733-5963

Vice Chairman
Sen. Floyd B. McKissick, Jr. 733-4599

Vice Chairman
Sen. David W. Hoyle (sponsor) 733-5734

Vice Chairman
Sen. Tony Rand 733-9892

Members
Sen. Tom Apodaca 733-5745
Sen. Tony Foriest 301-1446
Sen. Larry Shaw 733-9349
Sen. Philip E. Berger 733-5708
Sen. Doug Berger 715-8363
Sen. Harris Blake 733-4809
Sen. Julia Boseman 715-2525
Sen. Peter S. Brunstetter 733-7850
Sen. Debbie A. Clary (sponsor) 715-3038
Sen. Katie G. Dorsett 715-3042
Sen. James Forrester 715-3050
Sen. Linda Garrou 733-5620
Sen. W. Edward (Eddie) Goodall 733-7659
Sen. Steve Goss 733-5742
Sen. Malcolm Graham 733-5650
Sen. Neal Hunt 733-5850
Sen. Jim Jacumin 715-7823
Sen. Clark Jenkins 715-3040
Sen. Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. 715-3001
Sen. William R. Purcell 733-5953
Sen. Bob Rucho 733-5655
Sen. Josh Stein 715-6400
Sen. Richard Stevens 733-5653
Sen. Don Vaughan 733-5856

I spent my lunch hour at today’s House Public Utilities Committee listening to debate about H.1252, the “Time Warner Cable Protection Act.” The meeting was full of spectators, including a group that proponent Americans For Prosperity apparently borrowed from a nearby protest. In spite of the crowd, this meeting had more civility than the previous meetings.

The chair said right from the start that there had been many citizens weighing in on this bill, so clearly they knew it was controversial. Immediately the bill’s sponsor, Ty Harrell, submitted a PCS (a potential committee substitute) directing this bill be sent to the Revenue Laws Study Committee. This would seem to defang it, and a lot of talk ensued about how everyone just wanted to make broadband available to anyone who wants it.
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Tomorrow is the N.C. House Public Utilities Committee meeting where H.1252 is scheduled to be heard. I hope to attend the meeting but it depends on whether I can schedule my work around it.

I spent my lunch break calling the members of the committee to urge them to oppose the bill. Many of the legislative assistants expressed marked awareness of the bill. Apparently they’ve been getting lots of calls, though for which side I don’t know. At least one said the assistant’s boss was reconsidering support for the bill, which is a good sign.

I hope our representatives know what a bad bill this is for our communities and vote accordingly, but we’ll have to see. It may come down to the wire.

Also, there’s a Facebook group where you can lend your voice in opposition. The more avenues for expression, the better!

Google and Intel announced today their opposition to H1252, the so-called “Level Playing Field Act.”. In a letter to legislators, the companies joined Alcatel-Lucent, Intel, Telecommunications Industry Association, the Fiber to the Home Council, Educause, the Utilities Telecom Council, Atlantic Engineering and the American Public Power Association in saying:

We, the undersigned private-sector companies and trade associations urge you to oppose HB1252, the so-called “Level Playing Field Act.” HB1252 is “level” only in the sense that it will harm both the public and private sectors. It will thwart public broadband initiatives, stifle economic growth, prevent the creation or retention of thousands of jobs, and diminish quality of life in North Carolina . In particular, it will hurt the private sector by undermining public-private partnerships, hamstringing our ability to sell our goods and services, interfering with workforce development, and stifling creativity and innovation. …
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Here’s what I’m talking about.

I was returning home from a meeting or something an evening a week ago when I spotted a driver having trouble keeping his vehicle in his lane. A few times the vehicle wasn’t keeping speed with traffic and hugged the lane lines. This vehicle had state senate tags. I opted not to call it in, though in hindsight I probably should have.

If I fell for the aura of authority, it seems I’m not alone. Rep. Cary Allred (R-Burlington) was recently cited for driving 102 miles an hour on I-40. Yet rather than haul him off to jail like the trooper would’ve done with the rest of us peons, Trooper N.A. Mitchell let him go with a warning. Now Allred is complaining about getting a ticket days later, saying he’s been “unfairly singled out.”

Yeah, you were unfairly singled out, you moron. You should be cooling your heels in jail right now and catching the bus to the legislative sessions from there on out.

This culture of privilege is what drives me nuts about state politics. If you think our state representatives think they’re “regular folk,” you’d be mistaken.

On a totally unrelated note, have you noticed the resemblance of Cary Allred to the Ha! Ha! guy on FARK?

According to an Associated Press analysis, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt received over $14 million in compensation last year in salary, stock, bonuses, and benefits. And this was down 8 percent from last year.

…. Britt received a salary of $1 million last year, unchanged from 2007, and a performance-based bonus of $6.4 million, down from $7.8 million a year earlier, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

He received other compensation worth over $82,500, which included more than $25,000 in life insurance premiums, a car allowance and a company savings plan match.

Britt also received nearly 104,000 restricted stock units worth $2.86 million on the date they were granted. He received 374,610 stock options as well with an exercise price of $27.51, worth $4 million when they were granted on March 3, 2008. However, the options are currently worth less given that Time Warner Cable shares closed at $27.37 Monday, slightly below the exercise price.

It’s interesting to note that Wilson built their own triple-play (voice, video, data) fiber network that will serve them for the next twenty years all for the cost of just two years of Glenn Britt’s compensation.

This is a company that needs protection from municipal broadband systems. Yeah, right.