Attempt to overhaul Colorado telecom subsidy fails
DENVER (AP) — Lawmakers on Friday stopped a plan to phase out a $54 million annual payout to Colorado telecom companies, saying there wasn't enough time to settle differences over a complex bill.
Republican Sen. Mark Scheffel killed his own bill, telling a panel of lawmakers he was disappointed it sat on the legislative calendar for six weeks.
"It's an unfortunate commentary on the process," he said.
Scheffel said it was "ludicrous" to expect lawmakers to debate the bill now with four days before they adjourn and settle big differences over how much of the subsidy should be shifted to developing broadband in rural areas.
The proposal sought to eliminate subsidies in places where 90 percent of customers have at least five telecommunications providers. Providers working in less competitive areas would still be eligible for the fund. The subsidy would be gradually eliminated by 2025 as ratepayers pay less into it.
Consumers pay 2.9 percent of their phone bills toward the fund, or less than a dollar for a $30 bill.
The fund was at an estimated $54.3 million last year. CenturyLink Inc., which cover most of Colorado's rural areas, consistently received more than 90 percent of the subsidy and was one of the loudest critics of the bill.
Jim Campbell, CenturyLink's regional vice president for legislative affairs, said the measure would hurt the company's consumers who would have to pay more for service without the subsidy. It was created in the early 1990s to make it attractive for telephone companies to provide service in costly, hard-to-reach areas. Without the subsidy, service in some places would be more expensive.
During the hearing, Scheffel referred to lobbyists in the room, saying the "folks behind me will be toasting each other and declaring winners and losers." Small and large telecom companies supported the bill, including AT&T Inc.
"The real losers today are the citizens of Colorado," he said. He later told CenturyLink representatives outside the room, "Congratulations, you guys won." He told them he had "major problems" with how they conducted themselves and accused CenturyLink of misrepresenting what the bill did.
"I will tell you we advocated hard and I'm not at all ashamed that we did advocate on behalf of our rural consumers who were singled out," Campbell told The Associated Press.
Scheffel and other bill sponsors wanted the money to go back to ratepayers, with another portion, about $25 million, going toward broadband development. Senate Democratic Leader John Morse was advocating to have more $200 million to expand broadband, saying he wanted to invest in the latest technology.
Democratic Sen. Lois Tochtrop said the bill was about overhauling the state's telecom regulations and that the proposal had been "hijacked" over broadband funding.
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