Thank you, Mr. President. As we have had some very deliberative debates today on this huge issue before us, I wanted to remind my members about the net neutrality issue - and how important it is to consumers across the state, especially those in the more rural and suburban areas.
Yes, this needs to be addressed by the federal government. Yes, the federal government is working on it, but, as we know the federal government lately has been very slow to react to states' needs and we as states have found ourselves leading the federal government - not behind them in the parade. Unfortunately, we do not have the net neutrality amendment on this bill. But it is still very important to look at in the future. It's become known as the Google amendment - and they feel very strongly that Michigan needs to insure consumers' access to all forms of video services - not just those that are offered by cable and phone companies. But they have also indicated their support of increased competition for Michigan consumers and decided that they had no desire to derail the whole process.
So, in deference to them and to my constituents who have e-mailed me and snail-mailed me, and phoned me about this very issue, because they feel so strongly, I have decided that I would not put the amendment on as you know.
We've also been in contact with the governor's office, and it's my understand that the governor's office has suggested to Google and the other supporters of net neutrality, that they will pick up the bill again next year in standalone legislation.
Therefore I did not put the amendment on, but I want members to be aware of the fact that this is a huge issue facing us and we need to continue working on it in the future.
Thank you for your support.
The vote was 26-12.
The bill now heads back to the House for final approval (the House did approve a similar version of HB 6456 by a huge margin last month). After that, it is expected that Governor Granholm will sign it.
