By Ron Thaniel
November 22, 2004

With growing signs that the 109th Congress convening in January will rewrite our nation's communications laws, The U.S. Conference of Mayors held a day long summit November 18 of the Communications Task Force. Advisory Board Chair and Transportation and Communications Standing Committee Vice Chair Dearborn Mayor Michael A. Guido presided.

Conference Urban Economic Policy Chair Jackson (MS) Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. and Arvada (CO) Mayor Ken Fellman were appointed Vice Chairs of the task force.

With Mayors Guido, Johnson, and Fellman were Workforce Development Standing Committee Chair Rockford Mayor Douglas Scott and Germantown (TN) Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy. Conference President Donald L. Plusquellic, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, and Laredo Mayor Elizabeth G. Flores were represented by senior staff and Washington based lobbyists.

Joining the mayors for the morning policy discussion were Elizabeth Beaty, Executive Director of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, John Grant, Legislative Assistant to Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, and Nicolas P. Miller Esq., Managing Partner with the Washington D.C. law firm of Miller & Van Eaton.

The Communications Task Force reiterated the Conference's positions that in the anticipated rewrite of the Telecommunications Act, maintaining local government's rights'of-way authority, including management and the requirement of fair and reasonable compensation is paramount.

Also, the Communications Task Force stressed that local government's taxation authority is nonnegotiable and that any restructuring of communications taxes do no fiscal harm to local government. The mayors stressed that any discussion of communications taxes must not include franchise fees. Franchise fees are rent for use of rights'of-way and are not considered a tax as the communications industry is suggesting. The communications industry is united in its lobbying effort to reduce the tax structure on its members. Local government revenue bases are at risk.

Also, the Communications Task Force said that the communications providers must maintain their public interest obligations. Universal Service fund should be expanded to include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Internet Protocol Enabled Services (IP-Enabled), and other advanced technologies ensuring all citizens have reasonable access to these technologies regardless of income.

During our recent October Fall Leadership Meeting in Akron, Conference President Donald L. Plusquellic announced that he was forming the Communications Task Force to examine the many communications regulatory and taxation issues that impact America's cities, and to prepare for the anticipated rewrite of the nation's communications laws when the 109th Congress convenes next year.

The mayors of the Communications Task Force have agreed to meet routinely over the next couple of months to develop a comprehensive communications rewrite lobbying strategy that will protect local government interest as Congress undertakes the massive effort of rewriting the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Task Force Members include Mayor Michael A. Guido, Chair, Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Harvey Johnson, Vice Chair, Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Ken Fellman, Vice Chair, Arvada, Colorado, Mayor Mark Begich, Anchorage, Alaska, Mayor Laura Miller, Dallas, Texas, Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy, Germantown, Tennessee, Mayor Elizabeth G. Flores, Laredo, Texas, Mayor Douglas P. Scott, Rockford, Illinois, Mayor Jim Dailey, Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor C. Jack Ellis, Macon, Georgia, Mayor Rosemarie M. Ives, Redmond, Washington, Mayor Brian C. Wahler, Piscataway, New Jersey