Rep Eshoo Has Issues with STELA Draft

If the ranking member is any indication, the Democrats on the House Communications Subcommittee have a bone or two to pick with the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) draft.

In her opening statement for the March 12 hearing on reauthorizing the Act, Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said that she had been working with Republican Steve Scalise (R-LA) on video reform legislation in a bipartisan manner, but she could not say the same for the STELA draft.

"Unfortunately, several of the provisions in this discussion draft do not embody the bipartisan values that have been the cornerstone of previous reauthorizations," she said. In particular, she pointed to the draft's elimination of the FCC's ban on integrated set-tops. "We need to be forward-thinking in our approach to legislating, but this bill dismantles a provision that has helped to ensure that consumers can buy cable set-top boxes from someone other than their local cable company, without any eye to the future," she said.