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Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH), Vice-Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and Congressman Gene Green (D-TX) today applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s passage of H.R. 4572, the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) Reauthorization. This bipartisan legislation will ensure continued access to local programming for more than one million satellite television subscribers across the country. It also includes a provision sponsored by Latta and Green to repeal the current integration ban on leased set-top boxes, which costs cable subscribers millions of dollars per year, results in higher energy costs for consumers, stifles innovation within the retail market and causes regulatory disparity among video industry participants. 

“I applaud the Energy and Commerce Committee for advancing legislation to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act,” said Latta. “This bipartisan measure will eliminate costly, outdated regulations that contribute to higher prices for consumers and limit the ability of businesses to effectively compete in the modern communications marketplace. I am especially pleased that the legislation includes our sponsored provision, repealing the current integration ban on leased set-top boxes – a victory for both consumers and businesses that will unleash opportunities for increased innovation, investment and consumer choice. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to ensure swift passage of this legislation on the House floor.”

“We are pleased that Democrats and Republicans came together to pass bipartisan STELA authorization out of the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Green said. “This important federal law affects tens of millions of American cable and satellite viewers and must be reauthorized by the end of the year. We are particularly pleased to see the inclusion of language nearly identical to the CableCard bill which I introduced last year with Rep. Bob Latta, which will end the integration ban, an antiquated tech mandate that has cost consumers and businesses over $1 billion since 2007 while preserving FCC’s authority in the retail set top box market.”  

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