Connecticut 2022 Regular Session Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 17 D · 3 R cosponsors

SB 278 — AN ACT CONCERNING A STUDY OF COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING OPERATIONS.

Last action — SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced March 03, 2022. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 78% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 34 sponsors

    34 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (17 D · 3 R) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

33 added · 306 removed

33 line(s) added, 306 removed.

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Senate General Assembly File No.
Substitute Senate Bill No.
352 February Session, 2022 Substitute Senate Bill No.
278 Special Act No.
278 Senate, April 6, 2022 The Committee on Energy and Technology reported through SEN.
22-23 AN ACT CONCERNING A STUDY OF COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING OPERATIONS.
NEEDLEMAN of the 33rd Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING FEES PAID TO COMPANIES OR ORGANIZATIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING.
Section 16-331a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(Effective from passage) The chairperson of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall conduct a study regarding the operations of certified third-party nonprofit organizations responsible for community access operationsandfacilities.Suchstudy shallinclude, but neednot be limited to, areviewofcommunity access operationsand current funding structures for both community access organizations' operational and capital needs.
(a) As used in this section:
The study shall include, as a prerequisite toanyrecommendationsrelatedtothefundingstructuresofcommunity access organizations, an analysis and recommendations related to the state-wide consolidation of community access operations so that any recommended increase to the remaining community access organizations' operational and capital budgets is at minimum net neutral to the average funding collected from the applicable franchise area in the fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, June 30, 2020, and June 30, 2021, to support community access organizations in the same franchise area.
[,] (1) ["multichannel video programming distributor"] "Multichannel video programming distributor" means a multichannel video programming distributor, as defined in 47 CFR 76.1300, as from time to time amended, and includes an owner of an open video system, as defined in 47 CFR 76.1500, as from time to time amended;
In conducting the study and making associated recommendations, the chairperson shall also consider the degree of financial support provided by the communities served by the community access organizations, the appropriateness of community access organization Substitute Senate Bill No.
[.] (2) "Subscriber" means any residential or commercial customer who purchases one or more of the following services:
278 personnel's salaries, and the degree of support provided to the community access organizations through moneys made available pursuant to section 16-331cc of the general statutes.
(A) Video streaming, (B) Internet access, or (C) cable television;
The chairperson of the authority shall report the results of the study, including any recommendations, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy and technology not later than December 15, 2023.
and sSB278 / File No.
Approved May 31, 2022 Special Act No.
352 1 sSB278 File No.
22-23 2 of 2
352 (3) "Video streaming" means the delivery of video content sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer in real time for a fee on a subscription basis.
(b) Each company or organization selected pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, in consultation with the franchise's advisory council, shall provide facilities, equipment, and technical and managerial support to enable the production of meaningful community access programming within its franchise area.
Each company shall include all its community access channels in its basic service package.
Each company or organization shall annually review its rules, regulations, policies and procedures governing the provision of community access programming.
Such review shall include a period for public comment, a public meeting and consultation with the franchise's advisory council.
(c) If a community-based nonprofit organization in a franchise area desires to assume responsibility for community access operations, it shall, upon timely petition to the authority, be granted intervenor status in a franchise proceeding held pursuant to this section.
The authority shall assign this responsibility to the most qualified community-based nonprofit organization or the company based on the following criteria:
(1) The recommendations of the advisory council and of the municipalities in the franchise area;
(2) a review of the organization's or the company's performance in providing community access programming;
(3) the operating plan submitted by the organization and the company for providing community access programming;
(4) the experience in community access programming of the organization;
(5) the organization's and the company's proposed budget, including expenses for salaries, consultants, attorneys, and other professionals;
(6) the quality and quantity of the programming to be created, promoted or facilitated by the organization or the company;
(7) a review of the organization's procedures to ensure compliance with federal and state law, including the regulations of Connecticut state agencies;
and (8) any other criteria determined to be relevant by theauthority.
If the authority selects an organization to provide community access operations, the company shall provide financial and technical support to the sSB278 / File No.
352 2 sSB278 File No.
352 organization in an amount to be determined by the authority.
On petition of the Office of Consumer Counsel or the franchise's advisory council or on its own motion, the authority shall hold a hearing, with notice, on the ability ofthe organizationto continue its responsibility for community access operations.
In its decision following such a hearing, the authority may reassign the responsibility for community access operations to another organization or the company in accordance with the provisions of this subsection.
(d) Each company or organization shall conduct outreach programs and promote its community access services.
Such outreach and promotion may include, but not be limited to (1) broadcasting cross- channel video announcements, (2) distributing information throughout the franchise area and not solely to its subscribers, (3) including community access information in its regular marketing publications, (4) broadcasting character-generated text messages or video announcements on barker or access channels, (5) making speaking engagements, (6) holding open receptions at its community access facilities, and (7) in multitown franchise areas, encouraging the formationanddevelopment oflocalcommunity access studiosoperated by volunteers or nonprofit operating groups.
(e) Each company or organization shall adopt for its community access programming a scheduling policy which encourages programmingdiversity.Saidschedulingpolicyshallinclude(1)limiting a program, except instructional access and governmental access programming, to thirteen weeks in any one time slot when a producer of another program requests the same time slot, (2) procedures for resolving program scheduling conflicts, and (3) other measures which the company or organization deems appropriate.
A company or organizationmayconsidertheavailabilityofa substantiallysimilartime slot when making community access programming scheduling decisions.
(f) In the case of any initial, transfer or renewal franchise proceeding held on or after October 1, 1990, the authority may, on its own initiative, sSB278 / File No.
352 3 sSB278 File No.
352 in the first six months of the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh years of the franchise term, review and evaluate the company's or the organization's provision of community access programming.
The authority shall conduct such review or evaluation in any such proceeding held on or after October 1, 1990, if the Consumer Counsel or any interested party petitions the authority for such a review during the first six months of the review year.
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During any such review year, if an organization desires to provide community access operations it shall petition the authority and the authority shall follow the procedures and standards described in subsection (c) of this section in determining whether to assign to the organization the responsibility to provide such operations.
No community access programming produced using the facilities or staff of an organization or company providing community access operations shall be utilized for commercial purposes without express prior written agreement between the producer of such programming and the organization or company providing community access operations the facilities or staff of which were used in the production of the programming.
Such an agreement may include, without limitation, a provision regarding the producer and the company or organization sharing any profit realized from such programming so utilized.
An organization providing community access operations shall consult with the company in the franchise area prior to making such an agreement.
(g) No organization or company providing community access operations shall exercise editorial control over such programming, except as to programming that is obscene and except as otherwise allowed by applicable state and federal law.
This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit such organization or company from limiting the hours during which adult programs may be aired.
Such organization or company may consult with the advisory council in determining what constitutes an adult program for purposes of this subsection.
(h) Upon the request of the Office of Consumer Counsel or the franchise's advisory council, and for good cause shown the authority shall require an organization responsible for community access sSB278 / File No.
352 4 sSB278 File No.
352 operations to have an independent audit conducted at the expense of the organization.
For purposes of this subsection, "good cause" may include, but not be limited to, the failure or refusal of such organization (1) to account for and reimburse the community access programming budget for its commercial use of community access programming facilities, equipment or staff, or for the allocation of such facilities, equipment or staff to functions not directly related to the community access operations of the franchise, (2) to carry over unexpended community access programming budget accounts at the end of each fiscal year, (3) to properly maintain community access programming facilities or equipment in good repair, or (4) to plan for the replacement of community access programming equipment made obsolete by technological advances.
In response to any such request, the authority shall state, in writing, the reasons for its determination.
(i) Each company and nonprofit organization providing community access operations shall report annually to the authority on or before February fifteenth.
The authority shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to specify the information which shall be required in such report.
Such information shall be necessary for the authority to carry out the provisions of this section.
(j) The advisory council shall review all community access programming of a company or organization within the franchise area which programming has been the subject of a complaint.
(k) The authority shall establish the amount that the company or organization responsible for community access operations shall receive for such operations from subscribers and from multichannel video programming distributors.
The amount shall be five dollars per subscriber per year, adjusted annually by a percentage reflecting the increase or decrease of the consumer price index for the preceding calendar year, provided the authority may increase or decrease the amount by not more than forty per cent of said amount for the subscribers and all multichannel video programming distributors within a franchise area after considering (1) the criteria set forth in sSB278 / File No.
352 5 sSB278 File No.
352 subsection(c)ofthissection,(2)thelevelofpublicinterestincommunity access operations in the franchise area, (3) the level of community need for educational access programming, (4) the level and breadth of participation in community access operations, (5) the adequacy of existing facilities, equipment and training programs to meet the current and future needs of the franchise area, and (6) any other factors determined to be relevant by the authority.
Prior to increasing or decreasing said amount, the authority shall give notice and opportunity for a hearing to the company or multichannel video programming distributor and, where applicable, the organization responsible for community access programming.
The amount shall be assessed once each year for each end user premises connected to an open video system, irrespective of the number of multichannel video programming distributorsprovidingprogramming over theopenvideo system.When the authority issues, transfers or renews a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate a community antenna television system, the authority shall include in the franchise agreement the amount that the company or organization responsible for community accessoperationsshall receive forsuchoperationsfromsubscribers.The authority shall conduct a proceeding to establish the amount that the company or organization responsible for community access operations shallreceive forsuchoperationsfrommultichannelvideo programming distributors and the method of payment of said amount.
The authority shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to implement the provisions of this subsection.
For any subscriber of multiple services, as described in subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, the company or organization responsible for community access operations shall receive only one payment from the subscriber pursuant to this subsection.
(l) An organization assigned responsibility for community access operations which organization ceases to provide such operations shall transfer its assets to the successor organization assigned such responsibility or, if no successor organization is assigned such responsibility, to another nonprofit organization within the franchise area selected by the authority.
sSB278 / File No.
352 6 sSB278 File No.
352 (m) On petition or its own motion, the authority shall determine whether a franchise area is subject to effective competition, as defined in 47 USC 543, as from time to time amended.
Upon a determination that a franchise area is subject to effective competition, the provisions of thissectionshallapply tomultichannelvideoprogrammingdistributors operating in the franchise area, provided (1) where multichannel video programming distributors provide programming over a single open video system, the provisions of this section shall apply jointly and not separately to all such distributors providing programming on the same open video system, and (2) the provisions of subsection (k) of this section shall apply to multichannel video programming distributors whether or not such distributors operate in a franchise area subject to such effective competition.
(n) No community antenna television company or nonprofit organization providing community access operations shall refuse to engage in good faith negotiation regarding interconnection of such operations with other community antenna television companies serving the same area.
No school or facility owned or leased by a municipal government that possesses community access operations equipment shall unreasonably deny interconnection with or the use of such equipment to any such company or nonprofit organization.
At the request of such a company or nonprofit organization providing community access operations, the authority may facilitate the negotiation between such company or organization and any other community antenna television company regarding interconnection of community access operations.
(o) Each company or organization shall consult with its advisory council in the formation of a community access programming policy, the adoption of the community access programming budget and the allocation of capital equipment and community access programming resources.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
sSB278 / File No.
352 7 sSB278 File No.
352 Section from passage 16-331a Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
The bill became a substitute due to a title change.
ET Joint Favorable Subst.
-LCO sSB278 / File No.
352 8 sSB278 File No.
352 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.
In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.
Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:
None Municipal Impact:
None Explanation The bill expands the types of subscribers who must pay the community access TV operations fee to include Internet access and video streaming service subscribers.
Currently, the fee is $5 per subscriber.
This is not anticipated to have a fiscal impact on the state or municipalities as it is expected to impact private third-party, non-profit community access providers.
The Out Years State Impact:
None Municipal Impact:
None sSB278 / File No.
352 9 sSB278 File No.
352 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 278 AN ACT CONCERNING FEES PAID TO COMPANIES OR ORGANIZATIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING.
SUMMARY This bill expands the types of subscribers who must pay the fee that helps support community access TV operations to include those who subscribe to internet access and video streaming services from multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) (i.e., cable TV providers).
Under the bill, “video streaming” is the delivery of video content sent in compressed form over the internet and displayed by the viewer in real time for a fee on a subscription basis.
Existing law, unchanged by the bill, sets the fee at $5 per subscriber (adjusted annually for inflation since 1995) and allows the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to adjust it based on factors such as the level of community interest in public access and the adequacy of public access facilities, equipment, and training programs.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Upon passage COVERED SUBSCRIBERS CurrentlawrequiresMVPDsubscriberstopayanannual community access fee to help support community access TV operations;
however, it doesnotdefinethese subscribersortheservicestowhichthey subscribe.
In practice, the fee is charged to cable TV subscribers.
The bill defines a subscriber as any residential or commercial customer who purchases video streaming services, internet access services, or cable TV services.
In doing so, it requires those who subscribe to an MVPD for video streaming or internet access services to sSB278 / File No.
352 10 sSB278 File No.
352 also pay the community access fee.
However, the bill also specifies that for anyone who subscribes to more than one of the three services, the community access operator that receives the fees must only receive one payment from the subscriber (e.g., someone who receives cable TV and internet service from an MVPD cannot be charged the fee twice).
COMMITTEE ACTION Energy and Technology Committee Joint Favorable Yea 24 Nay 2 (03/22/2022) sSB278 / File No.
352 11
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Action History

  1. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

  2. TRANSMITTED BY SECRETARY OF THE STATE TO GOVERNOR

  3. TRANSMITTED TO SECRETARY OF THE STATE

  4. SPECIAL ACT 22-23

  5. IN CONCURRENCE

  6. HOUSE PASSED, SEN. AMEND. SCH. A

  7. HOUSE ADOPTED SEN. AMEND. SCH. A

  8. HOUSE CALENDAR NUMBER 562

  9. FAV. RPT., TABLED FOR HOUSE CALENDAR

  10. TRANSMITTED PURSUANT TO JOINT RULE 17

  11. ON CONSENT CALENDAR

  12. SEN. PASSED, SEN. AMEND. SCH. A

  13. SEN. ADOPTED SEN. AMEND. SCH. A

  14. FILE NO. 352

  15. SENATE CALENDAR NUMBER 250

  16. FAV. RPT., TAB. FOR CAL., SEN.

  17. RPTD. OUT OF LCO

  18. REFERRED TO Office of Legislative Research AND Office of Fiscal Analysis 04/05/22

  19. FILED WITH LCO

  20. Joint Favorable

  21. PUBLIC HEARING 0308

  22. REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Energy and Technology

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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34 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 153 not signed on

Sponsors (34)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (153)

153 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

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Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 278?
SB 278 is sponsored by Kathy Kennedy (Republican), Derek Slap (Democratic), Bradley, Dennis A., Cheeseman, Holly H., Tercyak, Peter A., Tammy R. Exum (Democratic), Bobby G. Gibson (Democratic), Jaime S. Foster (Democratic), Anthony L. Nolan (Democratic), Borer, Dorinda, Hampton, John K., Ben McGorty (Republican), Gary A. Turco (Democratic), Robin E. Comey (Democratic), Goupil, Christine, Heather S. Somers (Republican), Eleni Kavros DeGraw (Democratic), Frank Smith (Democratic), Michel, David, Mary M. Mushinsky (Democratic), Winkler, Michael A., Rick Lopes (Democratic), Hennessy, John "jack" F., Conley, Christine, Jane M. Garibay (Democratic), Maria P. Horn (Democratic), Witkos, Kevin D., Hilda E. Santiago (Democratic), De La Cruz, Joe, Susan M. Johnson (Democratic), Vargas, Edwin, Mike Demicco (Democratic), Gary A. Winfield (Democratic), and Marilyn Moore.
What is the current status of SB 278?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced March 03, 2022. Enacted.
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