Governor Rauner signs the Illinois Cable Act Renewal

Governor Rauner has signed SB 96, a renewal of the Illinois Cable and Video Competition Act of 2007. This bill will ensure two years of funding from state cable providers for Chicago's public access station CAN TV, until the bill sunsets in 2017. SB 96 will require all state cable providers to pay the 1% PEG fee – 2/3rds of which goes to CAN TV and 1/3^rd to the City of Chicago. 

Though this bill did ensure funding, it has not addressed AT&T's unequal treatment of public access channels on the Uverse cable system. 2017 is the next date on the horizon for CMA, when the bill is up for renewal once again and the bill can be amended to provide for fair treatment of the public's channels.