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The Honorable Dianne Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 The Honorable Barbara Boxer 112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 RE: S. 1504 (Ensign/McCain) Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act – OPPOSE Dear Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer: I urge you to OPPOSE S. 1504 (Ensign/McCain). I OPPOSE this bill for the following reasons: This bill will eliminate government managed competition of existing communication service. S. 1504 will abolish cable franchising, reduce cable franchise fees, grant video providers the right to use public rights of way in perpetuity, eliminate all zoning of cellular towers, end telephone franchises and fees, and attempt to prevent governments from providing the public with communications service. This legislation is an attempt to remove the lawful power of state and local elected leaders, to undermine the principles of federalism, and to create an unnecessary and unwarranted subsidy-out of the budgets of local governments—for an already healthy & wealthy private telecommunications sector. It has been estimated by one member of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) that the bill would immediately cost local governments on the order of $300 million per year in lost franchise fees alone, and much more in the future. The bill will likely cost municipalities nationwide $3 billion per year in lost revenues from cable and telephone companies. - Eliminate the 5% cable franchise fee and replaces it with a fee that must be both “reasonable” and limited to rights-of-way management costs and also not exceed 5%, an then allows industry to petition the FCC to reduce the fee still further—this results in a huge subsidy to industry, paid for out of local government budgets - Substantially reduces the revenues that are includable in the definition of “Gross Revenues” so that, even if the 5% franchise fee were left untouched, local governments’ fee revenues would decline significantly due to the much small revenue base Cable franchise fees are a significant revenue source to the Cities of Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, and Temecula. For these reasons, I must urge your “NO” vote on S. 1504 (Ensign/McCain) Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act when it comes before you for consideration.