“When an informed citizenry is media literate and actively participates in government, it strengthens communities, upholds government transparency, and is vital for local communication infrastructures, and a critical element to freedom of speech.”
Maine Community Media Association Legislative Policy Committee has worked hard over the last few years. We successfully helped to pass LD 1371 An Act To Ensure Nondiscriminatory Treatment of Public, Educational and Governmental Access Channels by Cable System Operators.
Last year, we successfully managed to get our bill through both houses only to have it vetoed by the Governor. This bill would have brought the cable industry under the PUC, helping municipalities and public access stations.
Our new bill clearly defines that all video service providers should be placed under the PUC. It also clarifies that equipment owned by the cable operator will be upgraded and costs will not be shifted to the access station
| ACM – Newsletter – FCC Update |
|
We are a step closer to having a fully functional FCC this week as the Senate Commerce Committee has advanced nominations for Anna Gomez, Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. ACM is urging Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, to schedule a confirmation vote as soon as possible. The Senate goes on recess in August and the time needed for the Commission to reverse bad decisions of past Administration is rapidly shrinking. |
In 2021 MCMA Board members came together for a Visioning Workshop on revitalizing the Community Television Association of Maine. In this workshop, we decided that we needed to reinvent the organization from the gound up. This work included a new name and logo, as well as goals for us to work on such as establishing a public policy committee and rewriting our last bill to resubmit.
Below you will see our Legislative Committee goals. Our Legislative Policy Committee has done some amazing work and we hope you will get involved.
