By Ron Thaniel
January 31, 2005

Foreseeing the tremendous threat in the 109th Congress to local government taxing and regulatory authority over telecommunications services, Conference Advisory Board Chair, Communications Task Force Chair, and Transportation and Communications Standing Committee Vice Chair for Telecommunications Policy Dearborn Mayor Michael A. Guido reported to the mayors gathered for the Conference's 73rd Winter Meeting that Congress is now rewriting the nation's communications laws.

"Unfortunately, our taxing and regulatory authority are being challenged by a united communications industry," said Guido.

Framing the telecommunications rewrite issue, Guido said, "How could any of the people who were involved in the drafting of the 1996 Telecommunications Act have foreseen what the telecom industry would look like nearly 10 years later."

"The pace of change has been phenomenal. And no one today considers our current telecom laws capable of addressing the policy issues or the practical problems created by the Internet, wireless communications, and cable services," said Guido.

The Lobbying Strategy

Providing an update on the progress of the new Communications Task Force, Guido said "the Task Force framed an overarching lobbying strategy, a strategy that protects the interests of all of our city residents."

The five points include:

• Taxing Authority,
• Rights-of-Way Compensation,
• Rights-of-Way Management,
• Social Obligations, and
• Public Safety.

Addressing the rights'of-way issue in particular, Guido said, "The battle between the communications industry and local government is about your ability to be compensated for the use of the public right-of-way. The industry is defining this as a tax. It is not a tax!"

"Because the stakes for local government are so high, the Conference will continue its fight to protect rights'of-way management and compensation. Collecting rent for use of public rights'of-way has always been, and continues to be a matter of fairness," said Guido.

The Telecom Challenge

Joining the mayors for the closing luncheon to highlight telecommunications rewrite challenges was the Virginia's Governor Mark Warner, Chairman of the National Governors Association.

Governor Warner told the mayors that "We have to stand together. If we simply defer on this issue to Congress, it will be easy for Congress to say -Let's pass a bill that talks about pre-emption and forget about the ramifications that would have upon all of us at the state and local level in terms of nearly $18 — 20 billion in revenue.

Speaking on the very important issue to the mayors, Governor Warner said state and local governments should have a role in preserving public interest obligations.

Governor Warner said, "We need to fully engage this Congress and we must work together."