Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara announced that he has started an online petition to garner support for his legislation to crack down on overcharging and unfair pricing by cable companies, which has made service unaffordable for many upstate New Yorkers.

“The rising cost of cable service in our area is getting out of hand,” said Santabarbara. “There is no reason anyone should be paying more than their neighbor for the exact same product. The unfair pricing and outrageous fees providers are charging must be addressed, and I’m taking a stand to say enough is enough.”

Recent changes have led to significant disparities in how much households are charged for cable services, causing many to struggle to pay their bills. After receiving hundreds of complaints about the rising cost of service, Santabarbara introduced two bills in the New York State Assembly that address questionable practices by cable service providers. In an effort to establish fairer rates for cable service subscribers, one measure requires that special pricing plans or any new plans made available to new customers are also made available to any existing customers at the same cost savings (A.11130). Another bill prohibits providers from charging subscribers monthly fees for leased equipment once the actual cost of the equipment is reached (A.3025). In addition, a third bill that Santabarbara helped pass in the State Assembly will establish an independent office that represents ratepayers in disputes against utility providers (A.7293-A).

“In some cases, a person may be paying more than others in the same community or even their next door neighbor for the exact same cable service simply based on when they subscribed for the service,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. “And it’s simply inacceptable that cable companies can continue to charge monthly fees to the same customer long after the actual cost of the equipment is exceeded and long-term consumers end up paying for the leased equipment many times over at a profit to the company.”

To learn more and sign Santabarbara’s petition, residents can visit nyassembly.gov/Santabarbara.