Bill Text: TX HR1677 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating Austin Public access television on its 50th anniversary.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-26 - Reported enrolled [HR1677 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR1677-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 1677 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Austin Public, the city's public access television | ||
| station, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in | ||
| June 2023; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Now the longest continually operating public access | ||
| television station in the country, Austin Public launched on | ||
| Capital Cable channel 10 in June 1973 as Austin Community | ||
| Television; community media activists, members of the Texas | ||
| Commission on the Arts, and radio-TV-film majors joined forces to | ||
| learn about access television, then available in only two cities, | ||
| and obtain channel space and a corporate charter; in the early days, | ||
| with no cable lines or satellite dishes in the heart of the city, | ||
| broadcasting required a trip up Mount Larson to wire a playback | ||
| device into the cable system; the first live music cablecast | ||
| involved a musician performing at the site with the city in the | ||
| background; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The channel reflected the community with its wide | ||
| variety of programming, including city council meetings, sermons, | ||
| live music, offbeat call-ins, reports on civil strife, and shows | ||
| with such unlikely titles as The Pun Zone and Face Your Pets; famed | ||
| film directors Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez availed | ||
| themselves of the resource, and a number of producers, activists, | ||
| and board members from the station have gone on to serve as | ||
| executive directors of access television in other cities; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Since 2015, the Austin Film Society has administered | ||
| Austin Public, carrying on its tradition as an independent, | ||
| noncommercial free-speech forum that is open to all Austinites; it | ||
| has expanded its platforms, broadcasting over cable channels 10, | ||
| 11, and 16, and streaming simultaneously on the Internet; | ||
| empowering individuals and nonprofit organizations, it offers low | ||
| and no-cost training, equipment, facilities, and content | ||
| distribution to facilitate communication, community building, and | ||
| diversification of the media landscape; and | ||
| WHEREAS, For a half century, Austin Public has amplified the | ||
| voices of area residents, helping them to entertain, inform, and | ||
| maintain the city's proud reputation for weirdness, and the | ||
| community is indeed fortunate in the continuing existence of this | ||
| notable incubator for creativity and civic engagement; now, | ||
| therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby congratulate Austin Public access television on | ||
| its 50th anniversary and extend to all those associated with the | ||
| organization sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for the organization as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| Hinojosa | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 1677 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 25, 2023, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
