CTNS SCRIPTS
CAPITOL TELEVISION NEWS SERVICE
SACRAMENTO, CA
(916) 446-7890
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
• ONLY AUTHORIZED SUBSCRIBERS ARE PERMITTED TO USE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. SUBSCRIBERS CANNOT GIVE OR SELL CTNS VIDEO, RUNDOWNS OR SCRIPTS TO ANYONE WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF CTNS. ILLEGAL USE OF CTNS MATERIAL COULD RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SUBSCRIBING CALL 1-800-672-2728!!•
1. CHINA, TIBET AND THE TORCH........................VO/SOT
2. DOG FIGHTING PENALTY...................................VO/SOT
3. MYLAR BALLOON BAN.......................................VO/SOT
4. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DATA BASE...................VO/SOT
5. GIFT LIMITS FOR LAWMAKERS.........................VO/SOT
• This item did not make the feed due to time, and the hearing was postponed until Thursday to a malfunctioning air conditioning unit in the hearing room. A soundbite and video of lobbyists will be available on the web.•
6. CRUISE SHIP LEGISLATION...........................REQUEST
OF THESE EVENTS."
3. MYLAR BALLOON BAN VO/SOT
LIVE:
DESPITE OBJECTIONS FROM THE BALLOON LOBBY, A BILL THAT WOULD BAN HELIUM-FILLED MYLAR-COATED BALLOONS IN CALIFORNIA PASSED OUT OF THE SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE THIS MORNING.
SUPER: TODAY/STATE CAPITOL
VO: (:30) MYLAR IS THE COMMONLY-USED TRADE NAME FOR THIN METALLIC COATINGS USED ON MANY PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE TOY BALLOONS POPULAR AT BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND OTHER CELEBRATIONS. A BILL BY SENATOR JACK SCOTT WOULD BAN FILLING METALLIC-COATED BALLOONS WITH LIGHTER-THAN-AIR GASSES SUCH AS HELIUM. SCOTT SAYS WHEN THOSE BALLOONS FLOAT AWAY, THEY FREQUENTLY BECOME TANGLED IN OVERHEAD POWER LINES, CAUSING INCONVENIENT AND COSTLY POWER OUTAGES. NON-MYLAR COATED BALLOONS, OR MYLAR-COATED BALLOONS NOT FILLED WITH HELIUM WOULD STILL BE ALLOWED. THE BILL IS SUPPORTED BY ELECTRIC UTILITIES, WHICH REPORT HUNDREDS OF POWER OUTAGES IN CALIFORNIA ARE CAUSED ANNUALLY BY MYLAR-COATED BALLOONS SHORTING OUT POWER LINES.
SUPER: SENATOR JACK SCOTT/D-PASADNA
SOT: (:47)
SAYS: "I'VE QUOTED PG&E THAT SAYS THAT BETWEEN 100 AND 150 OUTAGES PER YEAR, SO THIS IS A, IN MY HOME DISTRICT, BURBANK, THERE WERE EIGHT OUTAGES IN THE CITY OF BURBANK IN ONE YEAR, SO YES, WE NEED IT. YOU KNOW, I CAN'T, AS ONE OF EM POINTED OUT, I CAN'T CONTROL THE SQUIRRELS, OR I CAN'T CONTROL RATS, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE PG&E AND ANY OTHER ELECTRICAL COMPANY TO TRIM TREES, UH, SO THIS IS NOT A, A PRO, UH, NOT TO TRIM TREES. THIS IS, THIS, THIS UH, THIS IS A MINOR ENJOYMENT AT A PARTY THAT'S CAUSING A WORLD OF HURT TO COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS."
SUPER: BARRY BROAD/LOBBYIST
SOT: (:40)
SAYS: "BEFORE WE GO ABOUT MAKING IT A CRIME, AN ACTIVITY WHICH TAKES PLACE IN MANY BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND CELEBRATIONS AND OTHER HAPPY EVENTS, AND BEFORE YOU GET ONE OF THOSE WACKY CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE NEWS STORIES WHICH THIS ONE IS BOUND TO GENERATE, SINCE THERE'S NO LAW LIKE THIS ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE PLANET, THAT I'M AWARE OF, LET'S PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE. AND I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH YESTERDAY. OUT OF THE THOUSANDS OF STORIES ABOUT POWER OUTAGES IN CALIFORNIA, I FOUND ONE RELATED TO A MYLAR BALLOON."
VO TAG: BARRY BROAD LOBBIES FOR THE BALLOON INDUSTRY AND SAYS MOST INCIDENTAL POWER OUTAGES ARE CAUSED BY BIRDS OR STORMS, OR BY SMALL MAMMALS CHEWING ON POWER LINES, AND THAT MYLAR BALLOONS ARE NOT AMONG THE TOP 30 CAUSES OF POWER OUTAGES. HE SAYS CONSUMER EDUCATION WOULD REDUCE THE NUMBER OF BALLOON-CAUSED POWER OUTAGES.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
THE BILL IS SB-1499 IT GOES NEXT TO THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE.
EXTRA BITES:
SUPER: SENATOR JACK SCOTT/D-PASADNA
SOT: (:22)
SAYS: "IF THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN SOLVED BACK IN 1990, IF EVERYONE MAINTAINED THE WEIGHTS ON THOSE BALLOONS, UH, IT'S JUST YOU PUT A DOG TOY ON BALLOON, YOU CAN USUALLY SEE HOW A CHILD'S GONE TAKE THAT TOY AND NOT MAYBE INTENTIONALLY, BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN THE BALLOON GOES AWAY, AND WHEN IT FOUNDS IT'S WAY TO A POWER LINE, WE GOT A PROBLEM. SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT."
SUPER: BARRY BROAD/LOBBYIST
SOT: (:44)
SAYS: "ON THE C-P-U-C WEBSITE, THE ONLY REFERENCE I COULD FIND TO THIS WAS THE FACT THAT THE C-P-U-C (CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION) GIVES AWAY BALLOONS TO CHILDREN ON EDUCATION DAY SO, TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS IS AN ENORMOUS SOCIAL PROBLEM, OR AN ENORMOUS ECONOMIC PROBLEM, NO ONE HAS MANAGED, IN THE INDUSTRY TO IDENTIFY IT AS SUCH, AND SO I WOULD SUGGEST THAT, UM, I DON'T WANT TO PUT CHUCK E CHEESE IN JAIL OR WHATEVER, WE'RE GOING TO DO HERE, BUT UH, BUT, AND I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO GET THIN-SKINNED ABOUT THIS, OR BLOW-UP OVER THIS ISSUE, BUT THE, THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT UM, THERE'S LESS HERE THAN MEETS THE EYE."