Legislative time limits have doomed two Nevada bills that would have been beneficial for cable operators.
Because the legislature there only works four months every two years, regulators set deadlines for potential bills in order to move along only the most viable ones. This session, that deadline was April 15. Any proposal that has failed to escape committee by that date is considered dead for the session.
The time constraints will benefit the satellite industry, which would have been subjected to a 5% tax to fund the purchase of communications devices by emergency responders. The bill was drafted by the cable-TV industry, which would have been exempt from the new tax.
A bill to eliminate franchise fees on all utilities, including cable, also fell by the wayside.
