Not another tax.
State Rep. Laura Devlin came out last week against a proposed bill that would establish a new “state civic” television network which would be on a cable consumer’s monthly cable bill.
The proposed State Civic Network is intended to expand the current CT-N to provide live and archived coverage of the proceedings of all three branches of state government, public policy discussions, debates, press conferences and civic events, and elections.
SB-104, An Act Establishing the State Civic Network would move the current funding line-item for The Connecticut Network (CT-N) outside the purview of the General Assembly and provides a funding system supported by cable customers and approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).
“I will tell you, the people I see every day in Fairfield and Trumbull, are fed up with the never-ending clamor for additional taxes and fees, said Devlin. “Connecticut residents are already paying some of the highest taxes in the country. I have serious concerns about allowing the imposition of a new tax with no limitation in the amount.”
“With younger generations choosing to ‘Cut the Cord’ and stop using cable television our aging populations some of which are on fixed incomes will be burdened with this additional tax,” said Rep. Devlin.
According to studies, 15% of millennials have said they cancelled their cable subscription for alternative services such as Netflix and Hulu compared to 3% of the baby boomer generation.