Public access advocates say a bill authorizing state cable regulators to designate the provider organizations for public, educational, and government programming without going through competitive bidding is on the verge of being killed despite garnering the approval of committeees in both Senate and House.

SB 1789 SD2 passed the Senate on March 4 and on March 28 was passed without amendment by the House Finance Committe with no committee members voting against the measure.

But despite the vote, a committee report was never filed and the measure was never sent to the full House for second and third readings.

Jay April, CEO of Akaku: Maui Community Television and one of the bill’s backers, said yesterday that he has been unable to determine who is responsible for the failure to move the bill despite its approval in committee. However, April said he is still hopeful that a last-minute move by the House leadership can save the bill, which still has a defective date of July 1, 2050.  However, the deadline for sending amended bills to conference was last week, and it is not clear just what sort of maneuver could be done at this late date.