SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1996-8691

By Senators Sutherland, Finkbeiner and Kohl

     WHEREAS, The United States Congress has enacted and the President has approved the most comprehensive change in communications law since the 1930s; and

     WHEREAS, This wide-ranging legislation will completely transform the communications industry and its marketplace; and

     WHEREAS, These profound changes will affect all consumers, especially residential consumers; and

     WHEREAS, This bill removes the legal barriers-of-entry on distinct industries that have prevented them from entering markets for other types of services, and addresses issues pertaining to universal telecommunications service, interexchange long-distance markets, interconnection to the existing network, broadcast industry revisions, pole attachments, and a multitude of other significant issues; and

     WHEREAS, Areas of state law will need revisions based on new direction or preemption resulting from this federal legislation; and

     WHEREAS, The economy of the State of Washington is especially tied to the convergence of telecommunications and computers, an area known as "telematics"; and

     WHEREAS, The Governor of the State of Washington recognized the importance of this pending federal legislation and its impact on the future of the state and created the Governor's Telecommunications Policy Coordination Task Force in 1994; and

     WHEREAS, The membership of this task force includes legislators from all four legislative caucuses in addition to six executive agency directors; and

     WHEREAS, This task force has spent the past 17 months studying the telecommunications industry in the state and policy options that could arise from federal legislation, and has composed a  comprehensive report on these issues;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Washington State Senate congratulate the members of the Governor's Telecommunications Policy Coordination Task Force on their efforts to date, and that the Senate is anticipating the continued work of the Task Force as it continues to study the telecommunications industry in the state with particular emphasis on the impacts of the federal law, including economic opportunities, consumer choice and consumer protection measures,  with recommendations on specific statutory changes that are necessary to keep this state on the leading edge of the telecommunications marketplace.

I, Marty Brown, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1996-8691,

adopted by the Senate February 9, 1996.

MARTY BROWN

Secretary of the Senate