| Last week ACT sent out letters to 23 municipal league state organizations asking them to pass a resolution in support of the CAP Act. Our primary targets were those states that have passed statewide franchising. We've heard from the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns that they will pass a resolution in support of the CAP Act and will ask their individual members to do the same. And we've heard from the Virginia Municipal League that they will be proposing a resolution to their board of directors. Please contact your state's municipal league and ask them to pass a resolution. Here is the Sample Resolution for Municipal Leagues. This week Bunnie Riedel met with three offices on Capitol Hill. One was a meeting to discuss the CAP Act, the other was a creative meeting with Baldwin and LaTourette's offices. It is clear that we need to do more to garner support from groups and organizations. Please think of all the organizations that use your channel and ask them to write a letter of support or pass a resolution in support of the CAP Act. Here are some sample letters. Several of you have emailed Bunnie with information about the Chambers of Commerce that are on your channel. Please let her know if you have Chamber programming on your channel, email Bunnie Riedel. Some of you have already filled out our Survey of Congressional Representatives Appearances on Your Channel. And some of you have either sent us links to the videos or even DVD's of their appearances. This really helps us when we are able to email a link or take in a DVD. July 18th to 22nd, your Representative will be in your district. Call now to schedule a meeting or invite them into your studio for an interview. House of Representatives Directory. The FCC issued a Price Survey which showed that cable rates went up every year by 6% or more, well above the Consumer Price Index. The survey also showed that cable rates actually went up more in areas where there is effective competition! Be sure to take the price survey with you when you visit offices. In case you missed it...AT&T spent $6.84 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2011. Here's the story. So between AT&T and NCTA, they will spend over $25,000 this year for every known access center in the United States on lobbying! And that doesn't count the other cable operators such as Verizon, Charter, Cox, Time Warner or Comcast. Given what we are up against, I ask you to help our efforts by becoming a supporter of ACT. Last week we received a very generous gift of $2,000. We ask you to consider becoming a supporter at any level. The work we are doing is important to the work you do, so partner with us in this effort by donating to ACT. You can send your contributions to:
ACT 8775 Centre Park Drive #255 Columbia, MD 21045 Or you can use the button below
Thanks to all who have become ACT supporters! We so appreciate your help. John A. Rocco President |