Following the Money: Cable's Best Friends in North Carolina Get a Payday

In this second installment of “Follow the Money”, I will look at the sponsors and co-sponsors of HB1252 (Protect Cable Monopolies Act). The bill has a host of legislators involved here in North Carolina.

The sponsors are Rep. Ty Harrell (D-Wake Co), Rep. Marilyn Avila (R-Wake Co), Rep. Earl Jones (D-Guilford Co) and Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg Co).

First the good news: Not as much money was thrown around in the House as was in the Senate. Rep. Earl Jones took no money from individuals or PAC’s related to the cable/telecom industry. Rep. Marilyn Avila took $500 from Embarq and $500 from AT&T, along with $100 from an engineer for Verizon.

Rep. Thom Tillis took a total of $3500 from PAC’s ($500 from Embarq, $1000 from Time Warner, $1000 from AT&T PAC and $1000 from AT&T Mobility PAC).

Rep. Ty Harrell took a total of $2750 from PAC’s ($500 from Embarq, $750 from Time Warner, $1000 from AT&T, and $500 from Electricities PAC). He also took $4600 from industry related individuals ($250 from James K Sexton – President of Telephone Strategies Group, $250 from Anthony Copeland – former lobbyist for BTI Telecommunications and FiberSouth, $4000 from Jim Goodman – CEO of Capital Broadcasting, which owns the Raleigh area’s biggest TV and radio stations, and $100 from Lynn R Holmes, who three months after making the donation became one of the current lobbyists for the NC Cable Telecommunications Association).

For the Primary Sponsors a grand total of $7250 from PAC’s and $5600 was given from individuals related to the cable/telecom industry.

The co-sponsors and amounts are as follows:

• Rep. Larry Bell – $500 from Embarq
• Rep. Nelson Cole – $4250 from PAC’s ($2500 from Embarq, $750 from Time Warner and $1000 from AT&T NC PAC).  Cole also received $100 from Charles W Pickelsimer – VP/General Manager of Citizens Telephone Co.
• Rep. James W. Crawford Jr. – $3000 from PAC’s ($2000 from Embarq and $1000 from Time Warner).  He also took $200 from James Pratt Wilson, a retired telecommunications worker and $50 from Richard Reese, an executive from Lexcom Communications.
• Rep. William A. Current Sr – $1500 from PAC’s ($750 from AT&T and $750 from AT&T NC PAC) – Oddly he was given $250 from Embarq and then returned it the same quarter he received it.
• Rep. Nelson Dollar – $3250 from PAC’s ($1000 from Embarq, $750 from Time Warner and $1500 from AT&T)
• Rep. Beverly M. Earle – $1750 from PAC’s ($250 from Embarq and $1500 from AT&T)
• Rep. W. David Guice – took no PAC money from the cable/telecom industry. He did receive $300 from Charles Pickelsimer III- VP Citizens Phone, $1000 from CW Pickelsimer Jr- VP Citizens Phone and $1000 from Senator Tom Apadaca who took a lot of money ($12500) from the industry.
• Rep. Jim Gulley – $500 from PAC’s ($250 from Embarq and $250 from Time Warner)
• Rep. Mark Hilton – $500 from Embarq. He took nothing else.
• Rep. Hugh Holliman – $11500 from PAC’s ($1500 from Embarq, $2000 from Time Warner, $4000 from AT&T, $500 from NC Cable PAC, $2000 from ElectriCities and $1500 from the NC Assn. of Broadcasters). He also took $550 from Richard Reese who is an executive for Lexcom Communications. You should know that the amounts are generally bigger for Holliman because he is the House Majority Leader.
• Rep. Linda P. Johnson – $750 from PAC’s ($250 from Embarq and $500 from AT&T).
• Rep. Carolyn K. Justus – $500 from Embarq.
• Rep. Marvin W. Lucas – $1000 from PAC’s ($500 from Embarq and $500 from AT&T)
• Rep. Wil Neumann – $1000 from PAC’s ($500 from Embarq and $500 from AT&T)
• Rep. Efton M. Sager – $250 from Embarq
• Rep. Fred F. Steen – $3000 from PAC’s ($1000 from Embarq, $1000 from AT&T and $1000 from ElectriCities)

There is one more House Representative I wanted to bring to your attention, Rep. Harold Brubaker. Brubaker is a former Speaker of the House. He is also on both the House Public Utilities Committee and the Joint Committee for Revenue Law. Brubaker took a grand total of $16250 from industry related PAC’s ($5500 from Embarq, $2750 from Time Warner, $6000 from AT&T, $1000 from Sprint/Nextel and $1000 from the Verizon Good Government Club). He also took $300 from CW Pickelsimer – VP Citizens Telephone.

The way I see it, following the money trail, Rep. Harrell introduced HB1252 for Time Warner’s attorneys and lobbyists. Rep. Holliman can use his powerful position to help secure votes and Rep. Brubaker sits on the committee that decides the bills fate. The cable/telecom industry seems to be getting what it has paid for. They spent a grand total of $463,699 for campaign contributions to legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly in 2008. That’s nearly a half-million dollars! I assure you that if we contributed a half a million dollars collectively as a consumer rights PAC, we would have quite a bit more influence in the legislative process. We have the ability to derail this money train from buying its legislation. We have shown this before. We must remain vigilant in our approach to beating back a greedy industry and keeping our legislators honest (or tossing them to the curb come election).

Tomorrow’s House Public Utilities Meeting on S1004 in North Carolina has been canceled.  We can pat ourselves on the back again for continuing to keep the pressure on and hold our legislators accountable.

We must still keep writing our legislators and letting them know that they need to send HB1252/S1004 to the Joint Committee on Broadband, so the committee who has knowledge on broadband issues can address accessibility, affordability and capacity.

The e-mail addresses can be found in the original action alert or at the Public Utilities Committee webpage.

North Carolina Legislature Building

I received an e-mail from a very reliable source that told me that S1004 (Level Playing Field Study) will be in the House Public Utilities Committee this Wednesday.  Their plan is to refer the study bill to Rules with NO CHANGES.  Time Warner Cable and the telecom Lobby want the study bill (S. 1004) to go to Revenue Laws ONLY, and not the Broadband Committee as specified and required in the companion House bill (H. 1252) and advocated by Rep. Faison in the last committee hearing on H 1252.

We must make sure that this bill goes to Broadband Committee as it was publicly voted to do.

I issued this statement to Fiona Morgan from the Independent Weekly this morning on the current developments:

“It has come to my attention from a credible source on the inside that S1004 will be sent to the Revenue Laws Study Committee in the House Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday.  It will not go to the Joint Legislative Committee on High Speed Internet in Rural Areas as the Public Utilities Committee had voted to send  it to about a month ago.  An immense amount of pressure was applied by Time Warner Cable to place S1004 in Revenue Law, as it is a more favorable committee for them to pass this to a full vote.  The don’t want a “turf war” on this important issue.  They want a free market where they, and only they, are free to monopolize the markets in which they operate.  The very definition, from the Revenue Law Study Committee website, of the committee is that “The Committee reviews the State’s revenue laws to determine which laws need clarification, technical amendment, repeal, or other change to make the laws concise, intelligible, easy to administer, and equitable.”  This has nothing to do with the State’s revenue laws.  It makes sense that it be placed in the Joint Legislative Committee on High Speed Internet in Rural Areas, where the real issues of accessibility, speed and affordability can be addressed.  Anything less is a travesty to the citizens to which are legislators are beholden to, and shows that Time Warner and the cable/telecom industry got what they paid for from Sen. Hoyle ($25750 in PAC money) and Rep. Brubaker ($16250 in PAC money).

Municipal broadband is becoming more of a necessity because the current providers refuse to upgrade their infrastructure to technology that is found in this century worldwide.  We will continue to fall behind in health care, education and commerce at the speeds at which we move currently.  If we want to compete, we must first compete with the high-speeds the rest of the world moves at.  Most other developed countries have speeds at least 4 to 5 times the speeds we move at.  Japan is at 160Mbps compared to our 10Mbps.  South Korea will be at 1Gbps by 2012, 100 times faster.  For our state’s very survival, we need someone to step up and upgrade our broadband access and speed.  Municipalities are very capable and, more importantly, very willing to provide this step towards the future.   All the while, our current providers like to live on their gross profits in the past. “

My first point of contention is that if this is already predetermined, then what is a public committee for anyway.  In North Carolina,  we did away with back room meetings to decide things of a legislative manner.

My second point is, why is this being sent to Revenue Laws, when clearly it doesn’t even belong there?  A committee on Broadband is far more appropriate, if not the only place you could send it!  Sen. Hoyle and Rep. Brubaker sit on the Revenue Laws Study Committee, if you catch my drift.

Lastly, North Carolina is 5th highest in unemployment.  If we do not give ourselves the tools (and that includes affordable, accessible and up-to-date high speed Internet access), we will continue to head south economically.

Please write the committee members on the House Public Utilities Committee and tell them they should make the Senate concur with the House and send it first to the Broadband Committee and then onto Revenue Laws, the way they originally voted to address this important issue.  Tell them we need more accessibility, more affordability and a chance for our state to compete on a global level economically.  Let them know that we do not have that right now, due to archaic infrastructure supplied by greedy monopolies and duopolies.

Here are the members’ names and e-mail addresses:

Rep. Lorene Coates <[email protected]>, Rep. Harold J. Brubaker <[email protected]>, Rep. Nelson Cole <[email protected]>, Rep. Bill Faison <[email protected]>, Rep. Russell E. Tucker <[email protected]>, Rep. Kelly Alexander <[email protected]>, Rep. Hugh Blackwell <[email protected]>, Rep. Angela Bryant <[email protected]>, Rep. Becky Carney <[email protected]>, Rep. Beverly M. Earle <[email protected]>, Rep. Bruce Goforth <[email protected]>, Rep. W. Robert Grady <[email protected]>, Rep. Jim Gulley <[email protected]>, Rep. Pricey Harrison <[email protected]>, Rep. Hugh Holliman <[email protected]>, Rep. Julia C. Howard <[email protected]>, Representative Linda Johnson <[email protected]>, Representative Marvin Lucas <[email protected]>, Rep. Daniel McComas <[email protected]>, Rep. Tim Moore <[email protected]>, Rep. Wil Neumann <[email protected]>

A sample letter:

Dear Public Utilities Committee Member,

Please make sure that the study activated by SB1004 (The “Level Playing Field” bill)  is in fact level and balanced by mandating that the Joint Legislative Committee on High-Speed Internet in Rural Areas also studies broadband issues in North Carolina AND that the study includes an examination of how the public AND private sector are addressing broadband affordability, accessibility and capacity in North Carolina. Right now SB1004 just has Revenue Laws Study Committee studying what is wrong with municipal broadband ownership and no focus on the private sector broadband deficiencies. There is nothing “level” about that!

Please feel free to elaborate on this letter or write your own, but please write today!

Following the Money: Telecom's Best Friends in North Carolina Get a Payday

If there is one thing I know about how politics work, it is that when you follow the money you find the reason certain people are pushing so hard to get legislation through.  After doing some intensive research into the Senators involved with S1004, I found a trail of money that leads right back to the Cable/Telecom industry.  S1004 was primarily sponsored by Senator David Hoyle (D-Gaston County) and was co-sponsored by Sen Debbie Clary (R-Cleveland and Rutherford Counties).

Sen. David Hoyle (D-NC)

What made me think to look in the first place was the quotes in the local paper by Hoyle.

You can expect to see 1004 on the Senate floor and sent over to the House soon, said Sen. David Hoyle, its sponsor. Hoyle says he doesn’t much care how it gets studied, as long as it gets there.  “It’s an issue that needs to be looked at,” Hoyle said. “All the parties need to get in the same room and defend their position.”

Add that to a Hoyle quote reported on Facebook by the Greensboro News & Record’s Mark Binker, “I take great pride in being a pro-business member of the Senate.” Now I had to look.

What I found was that Hoyle took a total of $25,750 in telecom industry PAC money in 2008.  Embarq Employees PAC gave $4500, Time Warner PAC gave $4250,  AT&T PAC gave $4000, NC Cable PAC gave $2500, Sprint/Nextel PAC gave $3000, NC Broadcast PAC gave $1500, NC Association of Broadcasters PAC gave $4000 and ElectriCities gave $2000.  That last donor is particularly interesting, because their lobbyist, Drew Saunders, also happened to sponsor a nearly identical bill in  2007.

It is easy to see why Hoyle is pushing this legislation so hard for his telecom buddies: $25,750 is a lot of money for a state politician.  Most people don’t make much more than that in a single year working 40 hours a week.

Co-sponsor Clary has not been very outspoken on this bill, but her total take from telecom industry PACs was considerably lower as well, amounting to $4750.  Embarq Employees PAC gave her $1500, Time Warner PAC gave $1000, AT&T PAC gave $1750, and ElectriCities gave $500.

Other big players in the North Carolina Senate are also cashing their industry checks, and the details are forthcoming.  Next, my attention will turn to the sponsors of HB 1252 in the North Carolina House.  Soon, we’ll all know exactly how much is takes to get big telecom’s legislative agenda passed into law in the North Carolina General Assembly.

All information I have provided above was a matter of public records search at the NC State Board of Elections website.

Gov. Jim Hunt

INFORMATION HIGHWAYS ANNOUNCEMENT
Governor Jim Hunt

May 10, 1993

Today North Carolina takes a giant step forward into our future.

This Fall, North Carolina will link up the most advanced telecommunications network of its kind in the world — a network that will ensure that the state will be a leader in the 21st century.

The network will reach into every corner of our great state. It will connect our cities with our towns, our schoolhouses and our courthouses, our hospitals and clinics — our people all across the state.

Early in this century, North Carolina came to be known as the “Good Roads State.” We discovered a new technology — and started paving roads. Those roads began moving people and products in ways never before possible.

Today we reach out for a new technology — a new kind of highway. The North Carolina Information Highway.

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