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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Opponents: Telephone Deregulation is the Wrong Call for Ohio Consumers

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Thursday, December 10, 2009   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Opponents say telephone deregulation may not be the right call for landline telephone customers in Ohio. According to a group of consumer organizations, House and Senate bills under consideration threaten to reduce many current customer protections and would be most harmful to the 60-plus set.

For example, the measures would lower telephone service quality standards by increasing from 24 hours to 72 hours the time companies have to restore outages, according to Kathy Keller with AARP Ohio.

"That's just not acceptable for older people who need medical assistance or another type of help to be without a phone for three days, and frankly, it is the older Ohioan who is most likely to depend entirely on landline telephone."

Keller says other consumer protections could be weakened, including customer credits, billing and deposits. Lawmakers advancing the legislation, and the telephone industry, claim deregulation will spur competition and create jobs at a time when landline telephones are losing customers to wireless service. But opponents argue most companies' return for shareholders has been consistently solid each year.

Ryan Lippe with the Ohio Consumers Council says Senate Bill 162 and House Bill 276 are in the interest of telephone companies and don't provide benefits for customers. He adds the legislation also would allow rate hikes without regulatory oversight.

"We could see, for example, a $1.25 increase on the monthly price of basic local service, year after year after year. There's no time frame specified in this bill - that's an annual rate increase that companies could impose on us."

He adds the bills also fail to provide commitments for broadband access to all Ohioans, and they eliminate all consumer protections for bundled telecommunication services.

AARP and the Ohio Consumers Council are among more than 45 consumer groups banding together against the deregulation.


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