State Bill on Closed Captioning

Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill that would require captioning on all state and county political ads, or a transcript on the campaign website. It was introduced by State Senator Norman Stone, a Democrat from Baltimore. Its fate is in the hands of the Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. The bill would require closed captioning on web political ads, cable political ads and require transcripts on the campaign website. It also requires website transcripts of radio ads. Three states – Minnesota, Florida and Rhode Island already have similar laws. One lawmaker on the other side of the isle is skeptical. Republican David Brinkley says no one has ever asked him to closed caption his TV ads.